The Masquerade
by AmazonSoul
Summary: Rumaging for clues to their pasts, Cloud and Vincent find a living treasure beneath the surface of Midgar as well as a curse that refused to die. Complete with all your favorite chraracters,jam-packed with action, drama, and love confusion.
1. Default Chapter

The Masquerade Chapter 1 - A FFVII Fic by AmazonSoul "You know, I want to find out about Aeris and about me just as much as you want to know about you and about Lucrecia." One year after Shinra, after meteor, after Hojo, Jenova and Sephiroth; the world looks ahead to the future. So much has changed in a year. Midgar, the once proud city, is nothing more then a wasteland filled with harmful Mako pollution. It is the most unsanitary place on earth. Not a soul, if it wishes to live, should wonder there. Yet, souls do wonder. Not all of them wish to live, but most do and they desire the same for others. That is why the members of AVELANCHE can be seen there each day. At first their mission was clear: get Midgar evacuated. Most left eagerly, but some where to attached to their homes and dismissed the warnings of the harmful pollution that came from the exploded Mako reactors. But as time passed the job became more gruesome. It was no longer a search for the living, but for the dead.  
  
Each day, as he made his way from the camp AVELANCHE had made outside Midgar to the dammed city, Vincent would see the body of an innocent child dead on the cold ground. It's open jaws and clenched hands stiff in the horror of the convulsion, his eyes filled with a fluorescent glow and his mouth overflowing with foam. Or he would see a woman grasp her bosom as she tried to inhale and exhale all to no avail, for the poison was clogging her arteries and seeping through her circulatory system. Not infrequently, Vincent and the others had no other choice, but to release these people from their pain. Today they awaken to the same horror, but will find a more intriguing terror as the heavenly stars overtake the sky.  
  
" I think it's fair to say that our mission is complete. We've been finding more dead people then live ones. We don't even find them dying anymore just dead. Its over."  
  
" Yeah, it's been too long. They're all dead by now. Poor fools"  
  
Cloud and Barret sat around the morning fire as the others listened in sadness. There was nothing they could do anymore. It was time for their lives to move on.  
  
" Guess the old fart is gonna be happy to see me" Yuffie said through a sad smile. She was so young and yet she witnessed the most gruesome things on earth.  
  
" I don't think anyone is gonna be happy to see you, runt," Yuffie gave him an evil look. Barret just smiled cockily. " But I'm sure Marlene is gonna be happy to see her daddy everyday, and you know what? So I'm i. Me, Elmyra, and Marlene, we're probably gonna go to Corel and help undo what I've done." He looked sadly into his bowl of oatmeal. Tifa had made it with blueberries, his favorite, but suddenly he didn't feel like eating anymore.  
  
" Would you quit blaming yourself!" Tifa yelled from the side of the rusted cauldron as she served Cloud his third helping of oatmeal. " Here!" she thrusted a large bowl at Cloud. " Listen Barret you gotta stop this. You know that it was Shinra, not you." She gave the sad man a reassuring pat on his shoulder and sat next to him.  
  
" Guess it's a habit," he smiled weakly at her. " So what are you guys gonna do?" he asked his crew.  
  
" I'm going home, but not before you hand me your materia! Remember you singed a contract" Yuffie smiled greedily as she reached for the glowing orbs in Cloud's bag. She found her nimble hands stopped mid way by the arm of a strong young man.  
  
" I don't think so Yuffie," Cloud said in between loud slurps of oatmeal. " We already gave you the other ones we mastered." He gulped the last of the oatmeal down and wiped his mouth with his forearm in one swift crescent movement. " And I didn't sing any contract!" he added. " You're a big liar Cloud Strife" the ninja retorted with an angry face, but it soon turned to disgust when she noticed his manners. " And a pig." Cloud just shrugged as Yuffie stamped her feet.  
  
" You can have mine Yuffie. I doubt that I'll need them at Cosmo Canyon." Yuffie's eyes lit up at Red's words.  
  
"Yes! Did I ever tell you that you were my favorite all along?"  
  
" So you're gonna pick up your duties as guardian. Figures. Well, as far as I know I won't need any materia in Nibelheim. I'm going to open a bar there." Tifa looked at the object of her affections as she spoke, but he didn't seem to react or take a hint. Instead he just seemed to be lost as he stared towards Midgard. No doubt he was spacing off, thinking about some unshared sadness that he wouldn't share with her. And why didn't he share it with his best friend? She had gone into his consciousness once. Didn't he trust her? Tifa wanted to help Cloud, but it wasn't welcomed and she wasn't going to pressure him too much about it. After all, what he would say might only cause her pain. He was probably just mourning about HER and considering the circumstances she wasn't the best person to talk to. /I'm so evil I resent her for dying. Oh why did she have to die? Things could have been so much easier. But I just can't compete with the dead./ Immediately Tifa bit her lip. It was a habit she had picked up. Every time she was having what she thought were bad thoughts, she would tighten her fists and bite her lips.  
  
"So I guess you're going to Nibelheim too, huh Cloud?" Yuffie said as she collected all the materia in her small bag.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about me" he said with a shrug. Now Tifa really felt hurt. How could she not care? "Call Cid. Tell him this will be his last trip. I think he's repairing something Reno blew up in the last infestation. He probably won't get here until nightfall. That'll give you a long time to pack up your stuff and arrange your trips to were ever you're going." He picked up the Ultima sword and walked over to Squall, his golden chocobo.  
  
"Wait. Shouldn't you pack up too?" Tifa looked at him in despair.  
  
" No. I still have some business here."  
  
"What are you talking about! Business? Cloud, you said it yourself, there is only death in that city!" Her emotions were getting the best of her, but Cloud didn't seem to care. He mounted Squall and turned his back on her. She wasn't about to let this happen. Tifa ran next to the chocobo and grabbed the reins. " You'll go insane if you stay here. You should at least have someone with you."  
  
Cloud looked at her with kind eyes and a smile. " Don't worry Tifa. Vincent's gonna stay with me. I'll be fine"  
  
"You're counting on him to keep you well? Do you even realize what's coming out of your mouth? I'm staying with you!"  
  
"Tifa, I think we all know I've never had a full set of marble. Now quit mothering me I'll be fine. Go, live your life. Don't waste your time." He sounded harsher then what he meant. His face contorted in regret. " Look, this isn't good-bye. I'm going to see you again. All of you. Now, I'll see you later." He waved his hand and rode his chocobo towards Midgard.  
  
"Harsh," was all that Yuffie could say. The rest of AVELANCHE tried to cheer Tifa up. "Hey where is Vincent, anyway?" Yuffie wondered.  
  
* * * *  
  
Vincent Valentine hit his chocobo's backside and sent it off to camp. If the chocobo were to remain there it would have probably been poisoned in an hour. He put on his oxygen mask. Normal people would also need goggles along with the black gloves, or rather glove he was wearing. However, Vincent's alteration made his eyes almost invincible to any poison or darkness of Midgard. His lungs were another thing. They didn't agree with pneumonic Mako poisoning at all. Vincent entered sector 6. He'd have to wait for Cloud inside the church were Aeris' flowers laid. Cloud treated them like his children.  
  
The beauty of the church was still preserved. The sunlight made a soft haze around the white roses and carnations of all different colors. Mainly pink; Aeris' favorite color. Vincent could relate to Cloud's love and his torture and he could also understand why he wanted to preserve this place. It seemed to Vincent that Cloud had a little help from above. Tough fighters like him, who know nothing but battle skills, don't self-teach themselves how to plant and maintain a garden. They just don't learn how to grow the most beautiful flowers Vincent had ever seen. He knew Aeris had never left Cloud. Vincent also felt Tifa's pain. He knew all too well the pain of an unrequited love. Lucrecia. No, he wasn't about to put negatives thoughts into Cloud's sanctuary. Instead he bent down and smelled the white roses and carnations that Cloud had poured all his love into. The sweet scents calmed his senses and relaxed his muscles. He could swear these things were magical.  
  
"You got here quick. I left half an hour before you," he commented calmly as he took in the rich scent of a white rose.  
  
" It didn't take that long to explain to everyone we where staying," Cloud said while he walked towards Vincent and the flowers with a large bottle of fresh water. "Plus Squall is way faster then Irvine." He added arrogantly. Vincent stood up and let Cloud water the plants with the large watering jug that had a bright yellow daisy imprinted on it. He watched him as Cloud carefully inspected each flower with a serious face. Mainly he dawned over the ones he saw Vincent touch. A curse on anyone who would harm his babies. It was hilarious to Vincent or anyone who saw this spectacle. Here was the earth's number one hero watering plants from a watering jug with a daisy imprinted on it, carefully and with all the seriousness he had ever possessed, monitoring the way the sun hit them, the amount of water they where getting, the richness of their soil and so on and so forth, all of this for a friend who was lost. That part of it deserved respect, which Vincent readily gave. /A friend like Cloud is a true friend./  
  
" You mean you explained to them that you were staying. I doubt that they needed to know about me. I'm mysterious remember?" Vincent said nonchalantly. "And Irvine is faster. Some people just like to take in the scenery" he added in the same tone, but Cloud understood it was a joke.  
  
"Whatever man. And they did ask about you," Cloud fibbed. "Anyways, where is this lab we were gonna check out today?"  
  
"Its in Sector 1. It's actually more then one lab it's a whole building or at least it used to be. It's the Shinra Bio-technology center. Hojo practically owned the building. He managed it and the 2 basements where for his eyes only, supposedly not even Heidegger could get in."  
  
"I asked where it was and that's it. Too much information," Cloud said jokingly and hit his rather unemotional friend in the back. " Well, I'm done for now." Cloud dusted off his hands and looked at his flowers quite adoringly.  
  
"She would be proud," Vincent said.  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Yeah, definitely."  
  
"It's too bad that I'm gonna have to leave them. Reeve and his buddies are tearing down Midgard. And some day new constructions are gonna come up." Cloud said remorsefully.  
  
"So why don't you just pick them?" "But that would be killing them, not my babies!" Cloud yelled melodramatically, trying to make his quiet friend laugh or at least smile, which he did. "Ah. There is nothing' like a morning smile. Hey! You are going to help me pick them later, right?"  
  
"Why? Too much work for the world's hero?" Vincent replied in a smug voice. "Come on we have to get going if we want to make the best of our time here. And put your mask on, or you'll die." Vincent said very seriously. His friend, Cloud didn't like that all that much.  
  
" We've been over this. I'm practically a walking Mako reactor. I'll be fine." Cloud said much like a disobedient child talks to his mother. The two heroes started to walkout of the little piece of heaven that was Aeris' church.  
  
"And Squall is faster"  
  
"You know he is not Cloud so drop it," Vincent said in a monotone voice.  
  
"Is too"  
  
"Is not"  
  
"Is too." and the conversation went on and on and on..  
  
* * * *  
  
Back at camp, Tifa picked up her things morosely.  
  
"Tifa, don't worry there are plenty of fishes in the sea and most of them don't have such dangerous hair."  
  
"You just don't understand, Barret. He just needs time and then he'll be ready. I mean he has gone through a lot his whole life." She punched her clothes angrily into her bag.  
  
"Well. I guess so. Just don't let it get to you." Barret went to pack his own stuff and left Tifa to her thoughts. Barret knew that some day Cloud would take notice of Tifa's love. He had better take notice soon or I'll kick his ass!  
  
" Hey Yuffie what the hell are you doin' in Vincent's tent!?" Barret spoke to the silhouette of a small girl with a large round weapon inside the Ex- Turks' tent.  
  
"Ah.. Yuffie? There's no one in here by that name, this is Tifa" the ninja lowered her voice pitch and put two melons in front of her chest giving her an "exaggerated" version of Tifa's chest. Barret didn't laugh. He entered the tent and looked dead straight at Yuffie who was still holding the melons. She laughed nervously as she put them down where she found them.  
  
"Return all his stuff right now! He wouldn't be too against killing your ass and frankly neither would i."  
  
"Stop exaggerating. We all know he's not that bad."  
  
"Better then you, you thief. Now put all his stuff back" Barret retorted.  
  
"Fine! It wasn't like I found any useful materia. The weirdo took it all with him. And so did Cloud, so don't worry about me stealing anything from him neither."  
  
Barret spoke softly to himself."Why would they need all that powerful materia? There aren't that many monsters in Midgar. They all dead or little pee ons."  
  
"How should I know?" Yuffie commented out of turn.  
  
"Get the hell out of this tent!" Barret raised his fist angrily and chased Yuffie out of the tent.  
  
"You old fart!!" She yelled back and hid behind Red. "Well, perhaps they're just being careful. After all, Hojo's labs could have some pretty gruesome monsters," Red said after his sharp ears picked up Barret and Yuffie's argument. The young Ninja cowered behind him.  
  
"They're going where!," Tifa screamed across the encampment making Cid who was on the other line of the PHS, curse out loud.  
  
"Hey! What in hell was that Tifa?" Cid asked "Oh nothing, our fearless leader just decided to take Vincent and go on a tour of all of Hojo's labs!" Came Tifa's loud and completely outraged, sarcastic answer.  
  
"Why the fuck would they do a thing like that?"  
  
"They have their own specific reasons, but they both want information," Red answered in calm deep voice, his flaming tail happily moving about. "Don't worry so much. Nothing bad is going to happen."  
  
A loud deafening explosion interrupted Tifa's planned come back. Cid drew the phone away from his ears and the rest of AVELANCHE covered theirs, as Midgar seemed to roar in agony from the great damage it had incurred. Metal shrieked against metal. Corrosion begot corrosion. Midgar seemed to die all over again. Tifa gave Red a very mad "I told you so" look.  
  
"Hey Cid you there? How fast can you come to Midgar?  
  
"Not until nightfall," he answered. "Reno banged the engine up pretty bad trying to kill that huge bug, but it's not worst then what I just heard. What the hell was that?" Came the old Captain's anxious query.  
  
"Cloud's cry for help," Tifa replied worriedly. " Get to Midgar as soon as you can and bring the Turks. We're going to the dammed city. God only knows what kind of danger our friends are in."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"A bug! A bug!" The spiky headed hero exclaimed. A shot rang out of a long rifle named The Death Penalty. Steam rose from its barrel as one of its bullets hit a bug, or more precisely. a moth.  
  
"Cloud Strife that's the second bullet you've made me waste," came Vincent's rather annoyed words.  
  
"Sorry, I'm bored. I just think it's cool, the way you can hit that across the room," Cloud happily screamed so that his friend could hear him on the other side of Lab B1-8. The dark lab was like all the other 7, a rather large room filled with: lots of useless paperwork thrown around everywhere, a foul morbid stench, and a dark dreary look that made anyone's skin crawl. Vincent Valentine gave out a sigh of annoyance.  
  
"Did you find anything useful?" He asked as he walked towards Cloud.  
  
"Well, this is the last file I dug up," he meant that literally. "It's different then the others."  
  
"You mean it's really large." Vincent rolled his eyes and walked towards his friend.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well then, what does it say?" Vincent asked now next to Cloud.  
  
"Hold your horses. The moth stopped me from reading." Cloud gave a small smile. Vincent wasn't in the mood for joking, if ever he was in that mood. He forcefully snatched the large overflowing file from Cloud and started reading. The mood turned somber.  
  
"You know, I want to find out about Aeris and about me just as much as you want to know about you and about Lucrecia. But that doesn't mean we have to get so stiff. Vincent, they wouldn't want us.."  
  
"Cloud, shut up and listen to this. It's one of Hojo's top secret projects."Vincent read out loud.  
  
"'Project N seems to be very resilient to the Mako. At this rate she should be poisoned, but I suppose her genes are too strong. Her body doesn't oppose the Mako, but rather seems to welcome it. She shows some sort of consciousness in the Mako tube. She's tried to brake it twice in some sort of reaction to the Jenova cells that I have injected in her. Her body rejects them with far more force then any of my other projects. It could be as a result of the evolutionary changes I made. I will leave her in this semi-conscious state until the end of this year. Perhaps then she will be more obedient to me.'"  
  
"Whoa!" was all that Cloud could say. The shock had left him speechless. Vincent was not surprised at Hojo's inhumanity until he read the last part in the document. Cloud watched as Vincent read out loud, his eyes wide in quiet disbelief.  
  
"'Age of capture: 17, Projected age of release from Tube:23, Name of Specimen: Nemesis Hojo, former Turk."  
  
"I was definitely NOT prepared for that one. Hojo was making another Sephiroth out of his other kid." /Not again/  
  
"According to this she's been in a sort of conscious sleep for about 6 or 5 years," Vincent said pensively.  
  
"Does it say which year he plans on letting her out?" Cloud asked anxiously.  
  
"No. It simply says 'at the end of this year.' Hojo was never good with dates." Vincent remained cool and calm which only fueled Cloud's anxiousness.  
  
"You know what this means? It could be meteor all over again." Cloud said wiht a surge of anger and sadness. He grabbed the hilt of his sword as if he was ready to fight. Cloud's heart began to beat faster. Images attacked his already weakened mind. /Burning buildings, a long sword piecing a lovely young woman, and the image of the one he hated the most. He who made him both strong and weak, the angel of death himself, laughing calling him his puppet/ /Not again, I can't bare it all over again. How many more will die because of YOU?/ Sweat beads adorned his as he shook involuntarily.  
  
"Cloud," Vincent addressed him calmly stopping Cloud's tortured train of thought. He put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. " Don't forget that foremost she is like us, victims of Hojo. From what it says here she went through treatments similar to both of ours. Imagine what he did to her. Our pains are her pains." Vincent knew what kind of torture would come to that woman. He wasn't about to fail again. /Never again, Hojo./  
  
"Maybe," Cloud said weakly. "But we still should be on guard."/ I know I'm not about make friends with a demon./  
  
"I wouldn't have it other wise, but lets give her the benefit of the doubt. We could help her the way our friends helped us." Vincent's honest words brought back the casual cloud.  
  
"You just love us don't you?" he teased. Vincent ignored him.  
  
"The rest of this is just dosages of Mako and Jenova cells and there is also a book. 'Sorrow and it's Chaos'." Chaos, how Vincent hated that name even in a word.  
  
" Does it say where he left her?" Cloud interrupted.  
  
"No. She could not only be anywhere in Migard or maybe even anywhere in the world, but there is a strong possibility that she may be dead. We don't know what kind of special care she needed to survive or if her facility was crushed"  
  
"A so called 'project' like that. No way. Hojo, would have taken better care," Cloud acknowledged softly to Vincent's surprise. He was smarter then he acted. " She could be in the last floor. You said so yourself that only Hojo was allowed down there."  
  
"It's possible. We're going there now anyway," Vincent replied and hoped that they would find her. He kept thinking of this new chance to atone.  
Vincent gave the file and the book to Cloud, who in turn put it in a battered briefcase they had found. The two warriors walked through the broken down metal door and looked for the staircase. Suddenly there was a huge explosion everything seemed to shake. The reminiscence of the building above the basements began to crumble and fall, which seemed to cause a domino effect with the other buildings. A terrible shrieking sound caused the heroes to fall on their knees and block the ear-splitting sound.  
  
" What the hell is this?" Could both asked and exclaimed. "Why it's me, my failure," a sinister voice answered. It sounded like a snake speaking.. The voice elongated its speech with S's and an unatractive amoount of saliva. Smoke surrounded the very large creature making it hard to see what it was. The silhouette behind the thick sand colored smoke gave away the identity of the attacker. It was a creature much like a Zolom, but with small bat wings that let it fly above them.  
  
"Vincent! Is it just me or is a flying snake talking to us?" Cloud asked confused out of his mind.  
  
"Yeah Vincent. Is it really a flying snake talking to you?" The smug voice chuckled as it spoke  
  
Vincent knew who it was and he wasn't about to bother answering the mad man. Rage built inside his heart and he shot his gun at the head of the large snake that screamed in pain. His blood boiled and his lust for vengeance was slowly giving away to darkness inside. Not yet! He forced himself not to give in. He wanted to remember how he killed his arch- nemesis.  
  
"Cloud, it's Hojo!" Vincent screamed in rage as he cast a powerful Fire3 spell that almost knocked the flying creature out. Cloud imitated the same angry rage and slashed at the creature who responded with a swift hit to Cloud's head. The young man quickly got up. The smoke cleared and both the decaying green-man with a torn dirty lab coat and the large, flying Zolom where in plain sight of Cloud. Hojo's new pet was quite impressive. It had large sharp teeth that oozed in thick hungry saliva, eyes that glowed in an iridescent yellow, a scaly body that was covered with grotesque skin tumors, and yet ,still, Cloud found it prettier then the man at it's head.  
  
" Hey Hojo!" Cloud screamed. "You're ugly" The decaying scientist seemed to take this to heart. He ordered his giant abomination to take another shot at Cloud allowing the swift Vincent to levitated to the Zolom's back. He climbed up stealthily, like a panther at night as the Zolom and Cloud exchanged blows. As Vincent neared the head he readied himself to pounce on the scientist and disembowel him with his claw. He leap high in to the air and readied his torture instrument, but before he could get to his prey, Hojo grabbed him in mid-air with one of his many tentacles that grew from his back. The sick monster laughed maliciously.  
  
" I suggest surrender project C or you'll find your loser of a friend here dead." Vincent didn't give Cloud time to surrender. His sharp metallic claw dug into Hojo's tentacle. Once inside he grabbed the nerves and flesh and proceeded to rip them out. Hojo screamed in agonizing pain. He slammed Vincent unmercifully next to Cloud and his tentacle squirmed back to him. Vincent's battered body got up again and the pale man smirked evilly at Hojo's torture. The scientist held his tentacle in hand as it oozed and sprayed the red-green blood. He screamed in pain and anger.  
  
Cloud took advantage of the momentary weakening of Hojo's psychic connection with the mutated Zolom. He charged the beast with his Ultima sword and with one vertical swipe the beasts oozed in blood and its insides began to fall out. The creature gave a terrible deafening shriek of pain, as did Hojo.  
  
"No!" Hojo screamed. "Flying Zolom A, Poison Gas!" The weakened flying snake stopped screaming, opened it's mouth obediently and let out a green- gray gas that blinded both Cloud and the usually very sight gifted Vincent. Cloud coughed uncontrollably, but luckily Vincent's mask made the poison less harsh to his lungs.  
  
"Sorry, my failed specimens, but I must be going I have a rather prompt-to date with a very important project. No doubt she will be more promising then you two." With a maniacal laugh and a snotty attitude Hojo left the heroes. But he also left sounds, which told Vincent which direction he was going in.  
  
The Masquerade Chapter 2 - A FFVII Fic BY Amazonsoul  
  
When the smoke cleared Vincent found his friend unable to keep his balance. Cloud held his chest and coughed frantically as he swayed. His chest burned and cried out for air, his lungs confused as to why they could not supply.  
  
Vincent took out his Gun. "Poisana All," he said weakly. Even though with his mask, the poison took an affect on him. He felt light headed and weak. The magic from the materia swirled around then in a healing haze. Cloud could feel the burn ceasing, his lungs relaxing and air seeping in to his lungs once again. He regained his equilibrium and grabbed his now blue sword. As he touched it, life exploded in its core.  
  
"Cure3 All" With those words a similar hazy swirl surrounded the two, giving them back their energy and strength.  
  
" He went down the left hall. That's where his voice trailed of to," Vincent said gravely as he ran down the hall in said direction. Cloud followed his lead.  
  
"Vincent, not that I don't appreciate your talents, but following the trail of blood would tell you the same thing and more." Cloud eyed a fresh trail of thick, crimson blood at his feet. Vincent didn't seem to care about Cloud's smug comment. He led the way through winding dark hallways, various labs with hidden doors, and the wreckage that Hojo's oversized companion made.  
  
"Vincent stop!" Cloud said from behind his inhumanly fast friend. If it hadn't been for his advanced skills he doubted he could have kept up. Cloud stood in the middle of a crossroads. Vincent skidded to a stop and sharply turned to face Cloud.  
  
"What!" Vincent exclaimed in outrage at his partner's plea for him to stop. " How can you ask me to stop when I've just found that the most insane man, If you can even call that demon a man, of all this world is still alive, torturing another victim's soul for his pleasure? Cloud we can't let.  
  
"Vincent shut up and look at this." Cloud said using Vincent's earlier words and tone. "There are two trails of blood."  
  
"What?" Vincent pensively glided towards Cloud.  
  
"While you where busy following your 6th or 7th sense, I noticed that there is both a trail of blood in the hall in front of us and the hall to the left of us." Cloud pointed his finger towards the left corridor. " So which one do we go to?"  
  
"The trail of blood here is.." Vincent's reply was cut short by the agonizing sharp scream of a Zolom.  
  
"Guess it's this way." Cloud dashed to the left, leaving his partner confused  
  
"But that doesn't." Vincent hesitated to follow his friend making Cloud stop his steps.  
  
" Weren't you the one going on about 'we have to get the girl'. That's the annoying shriek of that stupid Zolom. Now c'mon it's not that far. "  
  
"Fine." Vincent veered left, quickly striding further then Cloud. At their stop they found Hojo's mutated Zolom and a robotic black cat with a white breast dancing atop its mog in victory.  
  
"Cait?" Cloud asked. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Oh well lokee here I finally found you. Tifa and the others are sure gonna be glad." The cat reached in its mog's pocket and pulled out a PHS. " Hey, what were ya guys."  
  
"Did you see Hojo? Cloud interrupted Cait's question rudely.  
  
"Hojo? Maybeh in my nightmares.  
  
The too men didn't bother to listen to the rest of it. They shot through the hall that Vincent had originally ran to and came to a halt where the trail of blood ended. They were in crossroads once again.  
  
"Hojo must have had his friend bring him this far and when he noticed it was leaving a trail of blood so he sent it back to confuse us." Cloud concluded. " So where now?"  
  
Vincent filled his lungs with the concoctions in the air. He pondered briefly, then swiftly followed the hallway to the right of them. Before the two warriors reached the brake of the hall they heard Hojo working. Metal and trinkets of alloys spilled clumsily on the floor. Vincent and Cloud reached for the door and drew their respected weapon. The door was an enormous monster of sleek steel. It alone glistened in the battered hallway, preserved in its eery beauty. The too men looked at each other knowing that their enemy lay behind 7 inches of metal. Cloud gave Vincent a confident smile that was replied to by the phlegmatic stare of a man on a mission. With that, Cloud pushed the protruding red button on his side. They charged inside only to find a very mad scientist. Hojo cowered in front of a seven feet tall tube. An enormous grey, stained blanket covered the system, but attachments breathed outside of the veil.  
  
Cloud was ready to attack, but a swift strike of a tail sent him flying back to the entrance, bouncing like a pebble in water. Vincent guarded his fallen friend and aimed his gun at the Flying Zolom. The quick creature moved in fast fluid motions, contorting its grotesque body to escape Vincent's bullets. His impeccable aim allowed him to hit the beast, but a few of his bullets escaped towards the covered tube. Hojo stopped his tinkering with the machine and stared wide-eyed at his nemesis.  
  
"Well, now Vincent don't you at least want to see my knew creation, my daughter before you kill her? You can't be that heartless. Or are you?" The decaying scientist eyes gleamed maliciously. He pulled off the large grey sheet covering his masterpiece and gawked at the figure within.  
  
The silhouette of a woman floated in a glistening green pool of Mako. She was locked in fetal position; hugging her knees close to her body as her head hung lifelessly. Her hair, long and full, seemed to be the only living part of her. It rippled and swayed with the small vibrations of the capsule. Numerous wires were attached to her naked body, while a respiratory mask covered her face.  
  
When Vincent laid eyes on this vague form he felt his heart beat inhumanly fast. A ghostly shiver came to his body as chivalrous desire filled his blood. His mind dance in a chaotic intoxication. His soul reached for something in hers frantically, perhaps reaching for a distant past. The connection he felt to the woman whose face he had not yet seen filled him with guilt. /Lucrecia/ Vincent did not understand this unearthly rush of unfamiliar yet welcomed emotions All he knew was that this woman was important somehow and he needed to protect her, needed to save her from Hojo. He was determined not to fail again, but his captivation left him motionless. Vincent looked in awe at the creature within the cage.  
  
"Oh, I can assure you, she's very beautiful. We wouldn't want to hurt such a vessel." Vincent remembered Hojo and shook from his trance. " Flying Zolom B get him!"  
  
The flying snake took a swipe at Vincent with its large tail, but made no contact. His agile opponent leaped and rolled over the constant attempts. The Zolom snapped at him with incredible speed and strength as Vincent zoomed from power cables and tables. He attempted to get a good shot at the monster, but this Flying Zolom proved to be quicker then his familiar. Quicker, but not smarter. Hojo's pet didn't notice a certain blond man with a large, glowing sword. Cloud had received enough injuries for today. He raised his sword up high as clouds and heavenly light surrounded him with a garish glow. A rush of energy came to him as he slashed the Zolom in all of its body sections with inhuman speed. The hero cut the unnatural beings wings and diced up its snake body. With a sad scream, the Flying Zolom accepted the last blow. Its head split in half and ceased its life of servitude.  
  
Vincent emerged from the cable high in the lab ceiling and landed next to his friend. They both stared at Hojo, weapons drawn, determined to take the scientist down. Hojo seemed just as eager to fight and just as confident that he would be the victor.  
  
"It's so hard to make good help today. You can change their strength, their agility, their appearance, but their intelligence is another thing."  
  
"Face it, Hojo. You're out matched and out numbered," Cloud hollered.  
  
" Really now? Well, I'm not opposed to getting my own hands dirty." Hojo was ready to fight for his precious specimen. Vincent wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The heat of battle would prove to be his excuse his savageness against the mad man.  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa screamed as she, Cait Sith, Barret, Yuffie, RedXII, Cid, and the Turks ran towards them. Each drew their weapons swiftly.  
  
"No!" Hojo screamed. He realized he had no chance of winning this battle. His precious specimen would go unclaimed by the rightful owner. Vincent aimed to shoot at the man who had lost his taste for a fight, but lowered his weapon when Hojo placed himself in front of the Mako tube.  
  
"Give up Hojo!" Yuffie commanded as she pointed her giant Conformer at him.  
  
" Never! This is only the beginning" he responded to her command. An ear- piercing shriek was heard and the Lab began to tremble.  
  
"Turn that damn thing off!" Yuffie grasped her head to stop it from shattering. The shrieking hit its peek and the roof of the Lab disintegrated into nothingness. 2 floors above them the heavenly stars and a Flying Red Zolom laid above them. The Zolom flew down and pushed the group to fall 5 feet. The blast left the Turks, who where in the back, still standing. Elena shot at Hojo with great aim, but the chimera did not phase.  
  
"Stop! You'll hurt the girl," Vincent said as he stood up. Another screech and he was knocked down again by the Flying Red Zolom. Hojo climbed on his creation's back in obvious fury.  
  
"This is not over. You little ingrates will pay." Hojo looked back at Vincent as the Zolom rose to the second floor above them. /Perfect/ Vincent thought, /now I can shoot./ He shot towards the sky as it where a massacre, but now his enemy was in the cloak of the night sky and out of range.  
  
"Take care of her! One day she'll take care of you" Hojo yelled back at his enemies in spite. He flew away on the back of his creation, smug as ever. Vincent looked despairingly in rage and hate. /Someday I'll get my revenge and you will not be free to plague others./  
  
"Whoa." Reno whispered in awe. He saw the girl in the capsule and felt her familiar presence. He ran to her, stepping on some of the members of AVALANCHE who where now getting up from the shock. They rubbed their heads and stood on their feet as Reno brushed his fingers on the glass of the Mako tube. He looked intensely into its interior, trying to figure out who the girl was. He could have sworn he knew her. Reno couldn't see anything, but he just felt it. His body was limp, his insides floated, as if suddenly recognizing that he was empty. She felt of a presence he had once know, perhaps loved. There was a connection to this woman made a specimen. Everyone had regained their composure now. Cid shook himself out of disbelief and asked the questions on everyone's mind.  
  
"What did you guys do? How the hell is Hojo alive? And who the hell is that!?" He massaged his head with one hand and pointed accusingly to the Mako tube with the other. Cloud was still in a state of disbelief.  
  
"She is . um she's . Hojo he. and Vincent and me we just."  
  
"It's a long story." Vincent spoke more words then he had spoken for a long time in front of the group."And as for her, she's a woman in need. A victim of Hojo." He looked at the woman somberly. /How can I help you?/ Reno still glared at the capsule. / She WAS a Turk..../ vincent thought. "Hey Cid you think your guys can bring this thing up? I don't want to open it without someone professional there." Cloud formed coherent sentences and mentally thanked Vincent for his sacrifice in character.  
  
"Sure Cloud." The pilot replied.  
  
" And I'm sure we can find a doctor who can take care of her in Neo- Mideel." Red commented in a daze as he too stared at the woman with the rest of the group.  
  
"Hey Cloud!" Yuffie called when she got over the awe phase "You do realize that you're going to have to explain this in details. I mean this is freaky" The others joined in with an almost angry  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"Hey, Vincent can explain too," He pointed to Vincent who looked at him with his usual face of apathy and anti-socialism.  
  
"Vincent doesn't talk."  
  
"Ain't you s'pose to be the leader anyways?" Barret added.  
  
/The man does have a voice box/ Cloud thought, shaking his head in dread of the big long speech he would have to make to the group by himself.  
  
"Ok let's get to the Highwind I'll explain there. AFTER I get some rest!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Cloud laid on his bunk inside the Highwind, starring at the ceiling, battling with himself, thinking all too much. /What if she goes crazy? What if she's just a scared girl? What if she's been brainwashed and Hojo can control her? What if she has a strong will that could not be broken? What if she's like Sephiroth? What is she's like Vincent or me, or maybe even like Aeris? / Aeris, he missed her. He still had to pick the flowers he left behind. /Aeris/ he called her name like he always did when he needed help. /what should I do?/ He closed his eyes and concentrated hard. Maybe this time she would answer him. He thought of her and what she might have done. The beautiful image of her face filled his mind, patiently he waited for her to answer. Only silence spoke back as he fell into a deep slumber.  
  
* * * *  
  
"I know her . I just can't." Reno looked at the girl in the tube intensely as if another hour in her company would help him figure it out. He was at the storage room of the Highwind where each sound wave mourned the death of the other."Rude help me out here. Don't you feel it too? You know that weird feeling that you've seen a person before?" He plastered his face on the glass. Would her heartbeat reveal her secret?  
  
"Reno, you haven't even seen her." His other partner replied instead of Rude. "There is no way you can see anything other then a shadow in there." Elena walked up to Reno and forced him off the glass. "And the lighting," she moved her hands throughout their surroundings, presenting to them the darkness of the dusty room, "is really not helping you see anything more."  
  
"You can't see but you can sense in the dark." Rude glanced at the specimen. His partner grabbed the surprised man's collar and looked passed the dark shades, into his eyes.  
  
"You sense it too! We know her Rude !" Reno let go of the collar abruptly and put his hands in his pocket. He thought hard of who the woman could be. /Let's see, it's gotta be someone we both know. There can't be that many. Well, actually at the bars.It could be anyone /  
  
"She was a Turk once," the Ex-Turk clued them in. Vincent floated towards where the Mako tube and the Turks where.  
  
"What?" Elena asked both startled and confused by Vincent.  
  
"According to Hojo's report. This woman was a Turk, captured when she was 17." Vincent repeated coolly. Both Reno and Rude gasped and looked wide- eyed towards the shadow of the woman. Their breaths grew longer and deeper. Their bodies trembled in undefined emotions. /They know who she is/ Vincent thought.  
  
"You guys know who she is don't you?" Elena asked echoing Vincent's thoughts.  
  
"It can't be." was Reno's quiet reply.  
  
"Impossible, she's dead," Rude turned his back on the woman and regained his composure. /I just got used to the idea that she's gone, it can't be./ He crossed his arms and refused to think of the possibility that it could be her. Reno, on the other hand, embraced it.  
  
"Hey, Vincent.was her name."  
  
"Nemesis, Hojo's daughter." Vincent answered before Reno finished asking.  
  
"Hojo's daughter!" Elena said surprise. "That bastard should have had hamsters for kids!" She glared intently at the abomination in the tank. Fear crept and held her nerves hostage.  
  
"Yes! I knew she couldn't die like that!" Reno screamed in happiness. He gave Rude a big pat on the back, making him stumble forward.  
  
"Reno, Sis didn't have a father." The bald man let the words spew from his mouth like venom, but Reno was not about to give up hope.  
  
"You're wrong, she didn't know who her father was, but she had one just like everyone else." He was sure this woman was his old friend.  
  
"She didn't look anything like Hojo." Rude retorted sternly  
  
"Well there's no doubt about that, but she looked a little like Sephiroth. Specially at the end..."  
  
"The end, exactly Reno. She's dead."  
  
"Hey, what if she goes crazy like her brother?" Elena asked no one in particular. /You're so riled up about this mystery woman. Bet it slipped your mind that she could be a lunatic/ She saw through Rude's pessimism, she knew he wanted Reno to prove him wrong, and badly./ I wonder what they would say if that were me./  
  
"Elena, you don't know Neme. This woman tied me to a tree once for a whole day without food because I said nature was stupid and it could kiss my ass. She wouldn't let me go if I didn't apologize to the tree." Reno now laughed happily at that miserable day. "She wouldn't do anything like Sephiroth tried to do."  
  
"I'm glad you think so." Vincent said. Reno had forgotten he was even there. "Reno, Rude, she is going to need people on her side." He looked sternly at each one of them. "Her family is going to make her very few friends."  
  
"If this woman is who Reno thinks she is, then the Turks will be behind her." Rude spoke sencerily and quietly. Serious and somber to a fault. Elena looked at the floor, trying to hide her anger. No one asked her how she felt about it. Reno was right, she didn't know this woman and that's why she couldn't trust her.  
  
"Hey, you know, I still have her clothes." Reno's grin grew sloppy and wide.  
  
"What?" Everyone replied.  
  
"Yeah she handed her uniform to me, before. well, she said she would comeback for it." His voice trailed of as he looked towards the Mako tube and the woman. "She always did keep her promises" * * * *  
  
//Cloud//  
  
/What?/  
  
//Cloud, you must help her. Cloud, she needs your help. / /  
  
/Aeris is that you? /  
  
Cloud Strife opened his eyes to a world where beautiful flowers of all different colors, shapes, and sizes grew. The grass was fresh and lemon green, with a soft dewy texture. In the air were the songs of bluebirds and the smell of roses. But nothing neither felt nor smelled, nor sounded, nor looked as beautiful as the woman who stood before him. He cupped her face with his hand and felt her soft skin. A sad smile appeared on his face as he looked at her there, with her kind green eyes and her beautiful smile. She was there with him, but not really there at all.  
  
/Aeris, there is so much I want to tell./Aeris placed her delicate fingers over his lips. She looked urgently at him. As she spoke her voice was accompanied by a plethora of voices, repeating or adding to her statements.  
  
//I don't have much longer Cloud. Please hear me out. Help Nemesis. Help her. She will help you, all of you. She may me cold and sarcastic, but that's not real. It's just a mask, just a mask. Help her and you help me, you help the planet. Please Cloud help her, help yourself, help your friends, and help the planet. Don't let her have Nemesis, don't let Nemesis become her namesake. Please./ /  
  
With those words the dream world began to fade. The brilliant colors dimmed, the songs hushed and Aeris began to vaporize. Aeris, who in her own enamoring way, both smiled and pleaded at the same time.  
  
/Aeris don't go! Please stay just a little longer. Aeris please./ Cloud ran after her fading image with tears in his eyes and a knot in his throat.  
  
"Aeris?" Cloud whispered as his eyes faced the light of the real world.  
  
"No Cloud, Tifa." Tifa looked down at her best friend worriedly, his hand cupped her face. Cloud gave her a big smile that told her not to worry so much and took his hand back. He knew he had hurt her by calling her Aeris, but his mind was too intoxicated with the dream to care.  
  
"Hey, are we in Mideel yet?" Cloud stood up and massaged his face, trying to bring his head back to the real world.  
  
"Yeah, and you still haven't told us what happened," she said, softly punching him in the chest. "Or what in the world possessed you to go to Hojo's labs with only Vincent. We could've helped you, too."  
  
"I didn't want you guys to go because this was something I wanted. Not something to drage you guys in to. Everyone deserves a rest. Plus Vincent and me handle ourselves just fine. We have common goals."  
  
"Yeah, but you were also planning on doing this for as long as it took and your were going to live with him. The man doesn't talk." Tifa said in outrage at Clouds plans that excluded her. She was hurt./ He talks, you just don't listen,/ Cloud thought, but he wasn't about to fight with Tifa.  
  
"Where are the others?" He asked. "At the bridge, waiting for you to explain everything."  
  
"What about the girl?"  
  
"Vincent and the Turks are taking care of that. They brought her to the Mako poisoning facility."  
  
"Good. Let's get to the bridge."  
  
Cloud and Tifa walked into the bridge as anxious faces waited for his story. He would tell them about what happened, the girl's situation, and the truth about who she was. Then they would make their way to the Mako poisoning facility, hoping she would be awake. When he reached the fore front of the drawbridge, Cloud inhaled deeply. Anxious faces stared back at him. His mind began to weave the story and his lips began to divulge it. He wondered how they would take this.  
  
* * * *  
  
Vincent looked at the girl who rested in the bed of a square hospital room. There were two doors relatively to the left of the bed. One lead to a bathroom and the other led to the waiting room, where Avalanche and the Turks, after they got done with the paper work, would wait for Sephiroth's sister. However, there was a slight chance they would meet no one at all. In the windowless room the doctor checked the woman's pulse and then her eyes with his flashlight. The woman named Nemesis still did not move after she was fed adrenaline shots. Vincent simply stared at her, only a white bed sheet covered her body. The way she looked, she was so.  
  
"She's alive. That's about all I can tell you. She should be dead though." The young doctor studied the girl through his chic square eyeglasses. He raked his fingers through his sleek, jet-black, short hair as his dark eyes wondered how this woman could still be alive. "Five to Six years immersed in Mako would kill anyone. I gotta tell you, this woman is strong, not to mention beautiful. She'll pull through." He let out a sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised if she woke up any minute now. For now all we can do is wait."  
  
"Thank you doctor," Vincent forced the words out of his mouth. He didn't like doctors, they where too much like scientists.  
  
" No sweat," the young man said, happy to help. " I'm gonna grab some lunch. My secretary will page me when the patient is out of it." The doctor smiled and went out of the room through the door furthest to the left. Vincent could tell the doctor was scared of him, which made him eerily pleased. /I hate White coats./ He turned his attention to the square room. It was light blue, with no windows, and it close to being barren. Only the bed where the patient laid, a cart with an empty food tray, an IV pole, and a blue chair next to the bed, were the objects inside the room. Vincent walked to the girl's side. He leaned over to look at her face, maybe he would remember her. * * * *  
  
Nemesis heard voices outside of her head. They were foreign. The consciousness of the Mako was no longer with her. She could feel that her own consciousness was back in her body, no longer flowing with the Life water. Her senses came back to her; she could smell the sterilized hospital smell, she could hear the sound of distant steps, she could taste the sourness in her mouth, she could feel the starchy sheet that covered her body, and she could sense. She could sense the square shape and cramped size of the room, the IV pole to the right of her, the cart with the food tray to the left of her, and the chair to right, past the IV pole. She could also sense a presence, someone that was glaring at her intensely. The culprits breath caressed her face lightly. She slowly opened her eyes, who revealed that the world was a haze. In seconds, the first thing she saw clearly where crimson eyes, jet-black hair, and the pale face of a man. /A man! Not again,/ she thought. Nemesis instinctively reached for the empty food tray and swung it against her attacker. Vincent leaned back to avoid such slapstick comedy to be used on him, but her will had already stopped her attack midway.  
  
"Sleeping beauty." The food tray was dropped and she wrapped the white sheet around her. Nemesis looked in awe at his surprised crimson eyes. Without knowing, she leaned closer to take a better look at them. Their lips where inches away from each other, almost brushing each other's surface as she peered into deeper into his soul. All Vincent could do was remain paralyzed "You have beautiful eyes," she said frankly. "How did you ever manage to open them?" Her voice was cool and unintentionally seductive.  
  
"Excuse me, 'Sleeping Beauty?" was Vincent's only reply. He was confused, but remained still as she studied him and in turn let him study her. He felt he knew this girl, this woman, but it was as if his memories of her had been wiped out."I'm sorry, do you know me?" He asked politely. His voice was almost a hush. A secret was transpiring between them. Some untold sensual aura had a grasp on both of them.  
  
"When I was in Shinra Mansion, I saw you there in the coffin." Her speech did nothing to conceal the daze she was in. " You where sleeping, you're gorgeous, thus Sleeping beauty." Her eye lashes bated lazily but exploded open as she broke from the spell /What the hell did I just say?/ She drew away and stopped gazing at his illustrious eyes. Looking off to anywhere, but his direction, she muttered one last hazy sentence"Strange that you should be the one to wake me from my sleep."  
  
Vincent regained his composure and remembered abruptly that she was Sephiroth's sister. His straightforward demeanor was back, but his nerves caused him to become informant and more talkative then he had been since his Turk years. "AVALANCHE is here and so are the Turks. You're in Neo- Mideel. We know that you're Hojo's daughter, so you're going to have to prove yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if they made you a prisoner. Although I don't think that's the case. " /Did I just speak abnormally fast?/  
  
"All that in one breath, huh?" Nemesis looked at him with sun strained eyes. She too took repossession of her Turk self. "AVALANCHE and the Turks?" She paused. " Wait, AVALANCHE was that new terrorist group in Midgar. What are they doing with the Turks?"  
  
"Long story," was all Vincent said. He got up the courage to look at her again. She looked...  
  
"Ok, so do you have any women's clothing by any chance?" She said sarcastically, painting a lopsided grin on her face. At that moment Elena walked in with Nemesis's old uniform and other things.  
  
"Oh she's up." Elena said startled. She walked up to Nemesis and gave her the outfit. Her heartbeats grew fast. She was half expecting a sword to pierce her heart right at that moment. Nemesis sensed her fear and she also noticed Elena's outfit or more precisely her uniform. /New Turk./ Nemesis stood up, her sheet still covering her body. She took the clothes from Elena's hands formally.  
  
"If you don't mind," she said looking at both of them. "I need to change."  
  
"There's a bathroom behind you and through this door is the waiting room. The people I told you about will be there soon," Vincent noticed Elena was struggling to speak as he found the words himself. Nemesis looked behind her and walked inside without a word or care. Vincent's heart now stopped its maddened pace. /What happened here? How can so affected by someone who I never saw? I was asleep. Is there no where else we might have met? /  
  
"Hey, you wanna wait in the waiting room? The others are coming and a lot of them seem pissed." Elena kept her voice quiet. She stared at the bathroom door in suspense as she talked " They didn't take it well. Cloud said that they want Sephiroth's sister to be watched at all times."  
  
"They're taking away her privacy?"Vincent was not too surprised.  
  
"It's better then Barret's idea of putting her back in the capsule. Let's give her a last moment of privacy and wait for her outside." /She looks so.../ 


	2. Chapter 3

The Masquerade Chapter 3- a Final Fantasy VII fic by Amazonsoul  
  
" That woman is Sephiroth's sister and a Turk. Means she doesn't mind murder, and she's down wit' crushing thousands of innocent people if there's money involved."  
  
The tall, strong, barely clothed, lean woman looked at her self in a small mirror of a miniature hospital bathroom. Had it really been a whole year since she last saw her face? She studied it, scrutinized it. It was as if a long- lost and forgotten friend was staring at her, but as she touched each feature of her face with her delicate hands she began to remember. Her face was oval with high attractive cheekbones that bathed themselves in soft pink, complementing her light Café au Lait skin. She drew closer to the mirror on the sky-blue wall leaning against the porcelain sink, looking straight into her large glowing green eyes. Those features she had never forgotten. With or without the glow they always served the same purpose. They defined her emotions. They could communicate friendliness and an innocence that she believed was never there. They could also communicate pride, strength, and a seductiveness she many time wished she didn't have. However, sadly, they could not lead you into her soul, into her fears, insecurities, and her over all despair and grief that she carried around in the form of an angel of sorrow. No the windows to her soul were boarded up, barred, and very heavily guarded. Not even a meager ray of light could pass.  
  
She stood straight again. Looking at her ever-glowing eyes blurred her vision. She moved on to studying the rest of her. Hair as white as the snow and as soft as a cloud flowed from her head down to her calves. A look of disappointment was written in her eyes. She would remember to cut it later. Wavy, long hair might be pretty to look at, but certainly not practical. Not, for a warrior. Locks of curls from both sides of her head framed her face, a style she and her only female friend had decided to embrace. That way they could look like sisters. She grabbed a curl with her finger, twirled it, and let it bounce back. Lowering her eyes she saw her lips reflected in the mirror. They were full; their crimson color never surrendering it's dominance over them. She softly outlined them with her index finger, recalling the only person who had ever had the honor of kissing them. She quickly brushed her memory away, like she did with all things that were not of relevance. She concentrated on the now, on studying the vessel she had forgotten. She could ask questions later and she would be sure to ask about him.  
  
She grabbed the dark satin ribbon and a brush on the sides of the sink and proceeded to style her long hair. She put most of her gorgeous locks into a high ponytail, leaving a section on the bottom loose. Then taking the bottom section she had left and braiding it' she made a large bun around the ponytail. Her up-do still reached significantly past her lower back in full thick waves. Too long, she thought. She let the wavy strands of hair on top of her head fall on each side of her face as she always did. They had gotten long, passing her chin, but she still had the same "Sister Do" she had agreed upon a long time ago. She picked up her dark-blue slacks with white stripes from on top of the toilet seat and put them on. Continuing to clothe herself she put on a cotton sleeveless vest with the same pattern that zipped up in front. Complementing her outfit were a pair of black sleek leather boots.  
  
She looked good in her Turk uniform, but it didn't agree with her, it never did. There was nothing good about being a Turk, the only reason she stayed was because the people had such a since of caring, loyalty, unity, and respect. Something she had never experienced before. They didn't look at her as if she was from the very bowls of hell or as if she was some scientific miracle. They neither feared her nor treated her like a freak. She was their equal. A fellow human being. Something her biological father and most of her so-called sisters failed to acknowledge. The Turks respected her and joked with her. They were such nice people. How odd that they would have one of the most in-humane jobs around. Tseng was honorable, Rude was sincere, and Reno was as friendly and as funny as you could get. They would always hit on her, playing funny jokes on her, but when it came down to it they never disrespected her, never overstepped her boundaries like so many other men had.  
  
Then there was Rufus. A chord in her heart was struck at the mention of that name. He wasn't really a Turk, but he had a lot to do with the department. He was the vice president and the son of Shinra himself. Rufus had a lot of power, a lot of powerful "friends", but his real friends were the Turks. There he would be himself and melt his shell of egoism and businessman persona. The handsome blond hated his father and all he stood for.  
  
"When I'm president you can bet your emerald eyes that you won't see slums and the Turks, you, won't have to do all those. dirty jobs." Rufus had once told her this, bringing a small smile to her face. Who would have thought that an Amazon like her would end up being best friends with men? Well, with women like Scarlet flooding the city of Midgar she had no choice. The Amazon remembered her only female friend her "sister".  
  
The girl she was thinking of had long, soft, brown hair that she braided in a ponytail and those same locks that fell on the side of her face. She had such a lovely name, Aeris. Aeris wore pink dresses and loved flowers. What a girly girl, she laughed inside. A true damsel in distress. But What Aeris lacked in strength she made up in character and spirit. She was a better person then any Amazon the strong woman had ever met at the Themiscyra Amazon fortress and they were supposed to be her family. The Turks and Aeris where her only true friends. They were the ones that saw her without her mask of superiority, apathy, and strength. But she always had another mask for them. For some reason thinking about her friends worried her. She had a bad feeling about everything since Vincent awoke her. Relevance. This is nothing of relevance. You will find answers later. Your mind needs training, came her self-imposed mental attack.  
  
She looked at herself once more before going out of the small bathroom. Now she remembered who was staring at her. She was Nemesis Hojo. No, she slammed her hands down on the sink. Death to all that would dare call her by that atrocious last name. She was titled Nemesis the Amazon, the Turk. Reno called her the book/computer nerd and the morbid green goop loving scientist wannabe. She chuckled inside and let her anger slip away. There where other titles she had gained in her last months before her sleep, but no one knew those and she liked it that way. Nemesis fixed her collar and looked at herself straight in the eyes. Compose yourself out there. Be on guard the people of Avalanche are not your friends. They'll ask you many about your father. Get to know the new Turk or just stay away from her. As for the others, in plain sight of strangers is not the place to show emotions. Please control all emotions, keep ALL emotions in check. It is not fitting that you make yourself look like someone other then a warrior, an Amazon.  
  
* * * *  
  
Vincent Valentine leaned against the right wall of the L shaped waiting room with his friends and the members of the Turks. All were pensive. Elena and Rude sat quietly on the red torn sofa, waiting patiently. Rude was just as stoic and as unemotional as ever. Vincent heard Rude's heart beat just a little faster, giving away his anxiousness to no one that didn't have super- human hearing. Elena sat to the left of Rude with her arms crossed; she seemed a little agitated, a little left out. /Jealousy/. Vincent noticed that contrary to his partners' cool persona, Reno was showing off his zeal. On the bottom of the L room, he paced back and forth from the secretary's desk to the old couch.  
  
"Is your Doc messing with her? He better not be trying no weird shit on her or he'll be finding this up his ass!" Reno raised the nightstick in front of the short secretary; sparks surrounded the weapon. Lines of agitation and worry decorated his sun-kissed face. He leaned over and came within four inches of the secretary's face. Malice shined in his eyes as he gave away a small smile. The other Turks didn't seem to care about how their partner was acting. AVELANCHE seemed a little more concerned Nevertheless Reno clenched his teeth as he spoke, this time a low spiteful voice declared his apprehension. "And if you don't tell me what the fuck he's planning to or doing to her, you will also find this weapon of choice up your mother f.."  
  
"Come down Rude I'm sure she's fine. Dr. Cain is a man of medicine not a scientist. Not everyone is corrupt you know", Red's calming, reassuring voice came from the corner appeasing some of Reno's anger, but not his anxiousness. Doctors, scientists, same thing, Vincent thought, a spark of hate in his thoughts. He watched as the petite, horrified secretary stepped forward from the wall that she had been clinging to behind her desk. Reno stepped back and let out an annoyed growl. He continued his pacing once more, tapping his nightstick on his shoulder.  
  
Mrs. Page's voice quivered. "He's not with that woman, she's changing and he's just waiting." Her voice stuttered. " WA.aaiting in the lunch room that is, until she comes out so that he can do small tests." Tests. Reno turned to look at her with a flash of hate and was about to turn on his nightstick again, but Cid grabbed his shoulders and pushed him to the wall adjacent to the one Vincent was leaning on. Mrs. Page gave out a shriek.  
  
Cid struggled to hold down the youth, his voice was calm, but agitated. "Son, calm the hell down! You're driving us nuts here. Look, the chick is fine. She's just putting some god dam clothes on. She's not being made into green goop or nothing."  
  
"Wouldn't be half bad if she where, one less psychopath to have to deal with. We got enough of that from her other psycho siblings," Yuffie murmured from the floor next to Rude. /Not good/, Vincent thought. Rude twitched a little and Elena gave an unnoticeable little smirk. Reno was reaching for his nightstick yelling curses, but now Cid, Vincent, and Tifa, who had been helping the traumatized secretary, held him to the wall and covered his mouth. Vincent couldn't believe how much strength Reno was showing. Guess he's her knight in shining armor he thought, struggling to pin him to the wall. Mrs.Page gave out another shriek and a rush of tears as well.  
  
"Yuffie!" Cloud yelled. The blond spike headed man's voice was calm, but showing his definite authority as the leader of Avalanche. He didn't want to upset the secretary. Yuffie rolled her eyes.  
  
/Great, here comes another lecture/, Yuffie thought.  
  
The huge black man leaning on the side of the door interrupted Cloud before he even started. While pining Reno with all his force Vincent noticed Barret's tone to be one of a worried father's. " Cloud. For once, I'm gonna have to agree with the runt I can't believe I'd eva be saying this, but little miss spoiled is right." Yuffie ignored the name-calling and nodded her head frantically. "The psycho gene runs in the family. Ya know? And she was a dirty Turk or is a Turk, whatever." Elena almost stood up after this insult, but settled for an evil stare. " The point is Cloud I don't want my little girl to have to worry about the sky falling." His tone changed, becoming jagged with hate. " That woman is Sephiroth's sister and a Turk. Means she doesn't mind murder, and she's down wit' crushing thousands of innocent people if there's money involved." Barret looked straight at Reno with eyes ablaze in fury.  
  
Reno finally stopped struggling. "Get off me." He leaned against the wall with his head down. /Sector 7/. Vincent wasn't there, but he'd heard what happened. He felt himself being pushed away by the red head, as did Cid and Tifa. Ms. Page had enough. She was too scared to stay around these people and decided that this was a good time to leave. With her nervous hands clasped together on her heaving chest, she left the room sobbing silently. The former rivaling groups didn't care.  
  
" It is not our place to judge, Barret." The dark silent man leaned once again on the same wall he had leaned on before. Vincent understood his uneasiness, but he didn't agree with his hate. He spoke with power and decisiveness. Barret had forgotten that Vincent had been a Turk as well. The large man fell silent and waited for that evil bitch that he was expecting. Cloud stood next to Vincent with a harsh worried expression written in his face. Vincent knew what he was thinking about. /Sephiroth's sister/. Cloud hoped she would not carry any of her father or brother's character traits. He couldn't bear to loose everything again. His friends, his life, and his sanity. Or had he already lost the last two with Her death? He tried not to think about Her as much as Vincent thought of how he had failed to protect his own Her. They both had that in common, but Vincent thought of his failure as a sin, while Cloud's was more of an undesirable fate.  
  
The President of the Prevailing Earth Alliance of the Conservation Effort, a.k.a. P.E.A.C.E, a.k.a. the relocation and cleanup crew of Midgar after meteor, entered the silent room. There was a lot of tension. The President just frowned. "She out yet?" Reeve asked quietly with anticipation in his eyes. His very breath seemed to oppose its voyage into the stagnant air.  
  
"You mean the psycho? Nah, she's not out yet" Barret commented in malice.  
  
Yuffie laughed out loud and everyone else remained quiet and annoyed. Some more then others. Vincent was one of the more annoyed, but he noticed someone who wasn't at all. Elena seemed to smile a little. She couldn't help it. She was a little jealous. /Rude and Reno seemed so worked up about this woman. So her bust size could compete with that other girl's. Big deal. I handed her clothes and she didn't even say a "thank you" the petite blond thought. Bitch. She beat herself up inside for letting emotions get the best of her/. /Still a rookie/, Vincent thought as he noticed Elena's definite discomfort. She isn't the only one feeling guilty though. He looked over at the brunette bombshell. Tifa obviously found all the hatred that she had for that woman unbearable. Her hands remained tight fists and she bit her lips hard. She hated that woman only because she was Sephiroth's sister. Vincent hypothesized that when Sephiroth died Tifa had been left with the same agonizing wound that would not heal and Cloud's non-helping hands only acted as catalysts. Tifa needed to hate that woman, to blame someone for her torture. Same way we all need to hate and blame Shinra with all its ideals. The same way I need to hate Hojo.  
  
Even minutes after Barret's harsh joke Yuffie laughed hysterically disturbing Vincent's evaluation of the people in the room. On the side of Vincent, Reno gripped his nightstick tightly attempting to control his rage, as was his partner, Rude. Barret's joke didn't exactly amuse them. Vincent noticed how the bald Turk seemed to clasp his hands extra hard, cracking all his knuckles as he rested his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. He was trying very hard to control himself. Suddenly and so out of character, Rude's fist hit the wall behind him with such strength, almost crushing Yuffie's head that was swung back from laughing. Then he calmly went back to his previous position, like a stone figure that had come to life only to sleep again. Reno laughed with the same rudeness and disrespect Yuffie had so readily shown. Yuffie would not control her anger. Vincent was about to grab Yuffie so she wouldn't fight, but. Oh. A certain shadow caught his eyes 


	3. chapter 4

The Masquerade- A Final Fantasy VII Fic by Amazonsoul  
  
"You are part of the terrorism group AVELANCHE. You've never once killed honest hardworking people who can only afford to feed themselves and their families by serving Shinra." -Nemesis  
  
"Why the hell did you do that for!" The teenage ninja screamed. She stood up in a fighting stance, her Conformer in hand and a war face painted by angry brows and clenched teeth. All where in alarm except Vincent and the Turks. Even Reno who stopped his horselaugh looked at the door next to the secretary's desk in silence and awe A tall lean woman wearing a crisp vest and striped dark blue slacks walked forward. Heads began to turn. Yuffie, Barret, and Reeve seemed not to acknowledge the intimidating woman's presence. She was blocked out of their field of vision in the L shaped room.  
  
"I really don't care about your freak woman or the rest of the Turks, we're only together now because of Reeve." For all of Yuffie's loud, obnoxious yelling Rude seemed incurious of her fury, so Barret put his foot down. Yuffie might have been obnoxious, but at least she was on the right side. Everyone knew Barret was about to open his big mouth.  
  
"Barret", they all whispered in warning. Their voices heeded him not to start.  
  
"No, I'm gonna say what I have to say!"  
  
"God dam Barret!" Cid yelled through clenched teeth and a suffering cigarette.  
  
"Barret please." Vincent spoke in a soft, but heeding voice. He didn't want Sephiroth's sister to hear this because he knew it would establish AVELANCHE as an enemy, but he also didn't want her to hear it because he was afraid Barret would get hurt. He had the same fear that she was going to be another Sephiroth and at the same time it killed him that he would hold such a prejudice against her. He too had been judged based on something other then who he really was.  
  
"No I'm gonna say what eva the hell I want!" His regular hand became a fist and his mouth snarled as he spoke. " You dam Turks are the bottom of the barrel. Murderous son's of bitches that's what you are. Then your so touchy when you get told the truth. Well, I frankly do not give a flying fuck about your god dam feelings. Just because we're talking truth about your little."  
  
"Ah, Barret." Yuffie and Reeve chorused nervously, finally noticing the woman. Vincent watched her, as she walked, no her steps were too graceful and patient to call it mere "walking". Intimidation was in her glowing eyes, but it wasn't just those features that glowed. She too, seemed to glow with strength and superiority.  
  
" I'm gonna finish!" Barret yelled with his hands in the air. "Just because we're talking truth about your little psycho friend don't mean you got a reason to be hurting walls and my friend. You're the Turks, we're AVELANCHE. You're the murderers and your friend is the daughter of a green ugly ass scientist and the sister to a psycho who calls an alien bitch "mother"! Now I think I make a pretty good conclusion about her when I say she's a mother fucking psycho bitch who."  
  
"Barret!" Cloud warned with authority.  
  
".Can rot in that tube she came from, for all I care!" Nemesis now stood in everyone's field of vision in the L room. The room screamed in dead silence. It seemed even hearts refused to beat. Barret gasped and fell back a step when noticing her. She stood with her arms crossed, but she didn't seem mad. She was used to the comments. Instead she smiled a small crooked smile and raised one of her eyebrows. Vincent looked at the impressive woman. He tried to read her in the same way he had been reading the others, but to no avail. She shifted her glowing eyes that had been locked on Yuffie and Barret to Vincent for a mere second as if to say, "don't even try it." But her quarrel wasn't with him, and she fixated on Yuffie and Barret again.  
  
Her voice was as calm as a gentle wind, but with an affect equal only to that of the calm before the storm. " I know some people in this room," she looked at Reno, who was near her, " but I most definitely don't know you two. Tell me, what are your names?"  
  
Yuffie stood straight. She tried to sound proud and defiant, but her voice quivered in Sephiroth's sister's gaze. " Yuffie Kissaragi of Wutai," she said against the will of her tighten jaw muscles.  
  
"Barret Wallace." His voice was steady, strong, and with a mater-of-fact attitude. "What's it to you?" Oh Barret don't to this, Vincent thought, but there was nothing he could do to save him now. She'd heard it all.  
  
"Drop it you guys!" Came the command from Cloud. Nemesis ignored him. He wasn't her leader.  
  
"Oh it's nothing. Nothing at all." She wore a sarcastic tone that mocked and patronized them. " I simply wished to know the names of the greatest psychics I've ever seen. I mean you know me so well and I've never met you. Or are you my long lost friends?" Her smile grew larger still. " Oh! I can't believe I forgot my best pals' names' and who they are for that matter." She chuckled lightly, patronizing them even more. " Where you Turks once? No, wait your not murderers. You are only part of that terrorism group AVELANCHE." She was ready to give them what they deserved. " You've never once killed honest hardworking people who can only afford to feed themselves and their families by serving Shinra. And you've never blown up Shinra buildings and Mako reactors that are both the livelihood of many people and the suppliers of electricity to all Midgard." Barret started to protest but was not allowed. " You've never made a child cry because his father lost his job along with his workplace or worse because he's dead, buried under cold cement stone just as dead as he is. No, the terrorism group of AVELANCHE would never do anything like that. While the Turks" she waved her arm from Elena to Reno, " they are monstrous! They seek soldier candidates and once in a forgotten moon kill for what President Shinra believes is 'the good of society.' But isn't that why AVELANCHE even exists? For 'the good of society?' So then don't we all have the same goal?" She made her point. " Seems we are all at the bottom of the barrel. Is that not the truth?"  
  
She took a step closer to Yuffie and stared at her straight in the eyes. Yuffie was just scared, but Barret had become a little ashamed. He remembered causing so much pain for his own ideals and beliefs. Even though he still knew they were the right ones, he realized they were proposed the wrong way.  
  
Sephiroth's sister's face turned form cockiness to emotionless, but she spoke with authority and a seriousness that had not been in her voice before. "I don't know you Miss Kisaragi of Wutai." Then she turned to look at Barret who had his arms crossed and pretended her word's had no effect on him. She was neither impressed nor fooled "I don't know you Mr. Wallace. And it's not just you two, but there are many people in this room who don't know the Turks or me. So please Mr. Wallace, Ms.Kissaragi don't judge. You where never a Turk, you've never even seen me till now. Don't judge." Vincent felt a weird feeling, he felt like applauding her.  
  
With that the tall woman turned her back to the people who didn't much care for her, and looked straight at those who did. All was silent and still. Reno and Rude where both standing in front of her now. Control your emotions Nemesis. She gave them the same small crooked smile she had given to her accusers, but this time her eyes were filled with kindness and innocence. The trio smiled at each other. Even Rude's lips curled at one side. Elena felt so left out, but she dared not show it. Reno lifted one of his eyebrows and laughed. He grabbed Nemesis by the arms and then spun her around in a strong embrace. She pushed him away, acting annoyed.  
  
" Don't go all emotional on me now! Has he been drinking or something?" she asked Rude as she straightened her vest.  
  
"When hasn't he?" Rude retorted. His smile grew wider and he gave her a short, but warm embrace that she was not prepared for. He was happy that his shades covered his watery eyes.  
  
" Not you too! You've been hanging around Reno too long."  
  
"Can't I be happy to see you after six years of not seeing you?" Reno was overjoyed, he felt as if only the three of them where there together. "I mean seriously people is that so ba." Halfway through his rhetorical question he realized that they obviously weren't alone. Eyes of all different colors where widened in disbelief at the scene they had just witnessed. None of them expected the Turks to get emotional for anything. They all felt stupid for getting caught in the moment, but hid it. Reno scratched his head uncomfortably. " Hey have you met Elena?"  
  
"Oh, my replacement" Nemesis mocked without a smile, but deep inside her heart was pricked.  
  
The small blond stood, nodded her head in recognition, and in a very business-like tone she added, " It is a pleasure to meet you." The taller, stronger woman nodded as well.  
  
"It always is at first" she whispered nonchalantly under her breath. She looked around the room and saw the strangest group she'd ever seen. There was a famous pilot, a brown-eyed woman, a cat-like/wolf-like fiery red animal, a rather unique raven haired ex-Turk, an Ex- Soldier who she swore she had seen before, her two aggressors, and Reeve, the only other guy in Shinra she didn't feel like choking.  
  
" Reeve" she said softly recognizing him. Then she realized she had not introduced herself. "Oh, forgive me. It seems we've, I've forgotten my manners." She turned very serious. "I suppose you would all like to know my name if you don't know it already. My name is Nemesis Mercious of Themiscyra."  
  
"Themiscyra? Isn't that the fabled amazon fortress? But I thought your father was Hojo?" The queries came out of the jaws of a large, four-legged creature, with fire red fur, and a flame on it's tail. Nemesis had seen a creature like him before so she wasn't surprised.  
  
" He gave me his genes nothing else." She paused. " Not even his insanity" she added so that everyone was clear that she was not like her father. "And Yes to the first questions. Not many people, or should I say beings, know about Themiscyra." She wanted not to mention Hojo or have to talk about herself and decided to change the subject. "How did you ever come to know of Themiscyra? What are you called again?"  
  
" My name is Nanaki, but you may call me Red. I am the guardian of Cosmo Canyon. There is a vast storage of knowledge there. A few pages of epics, stories, myths and such mention of the city and it's inhabitants. I thought they were legends though."  
  
"Wait, a dam minute ain't you suppose to have one breast cut off if you're an Amazonian?" Eyebrows began to rise. " You know I can read!" He said agitated. "Dam bastards! By the way my name is Cid."  
  
"Well, Captain Cid Highwind I already knew who you were. I am an Amazon and as you can see I have every body part intact." It was the only answer Nemesis was going to give him. Have him figure it out. Cid wasn't sure to be proud she knew of him or be mad for correcting him. "What's your name?" she asked the martial artist next to the dumbfounded blond man.  
  
"The name is Tifa Lockheart." Tifa sounded harsher then what she meant to, but she was too confused with feelings of rage and guiltiness for her to be her usually cheery self. Tifa simply lowered her head in disappointment of her first impression on Sephiroth's sister. Stay away from that one, Nemesis thought. She turned around and a smiling Cloud, a stoic Vincent, an inpatient Reeve, a quiet ninja, and a contemplative Gun-armed man faced her.  
  
"No reasons for introductions from you Reeve or you two," she looked at Barret and Yuffie who turned their faces away from her. She walked towards the last two men who sparked memories in her, but whose names and where she knew them from was not known to her. At least that was the case for Cloud. She remembered how she met the man with the crimson cloak, but not once had she heard his name. All she new was that according to Hojo he was an EX- Turk. She looked deeply into Vincent's crimson eyes almost by accident. Those where the only features that she did not see when she first laid eyes on him sleeping in that cold old coffin. " But I don't know your name." She remained with her professional tone until she added a barely audible small joke that only she and Vincent understood. "Unless your name just happens to be sleeping beauty."  
  
No one understood that and most didn't even hear it. Vincent only laughed inwardly at her small tease. Out side he remained as always, dark and phlegmatic. "My name, lady, is Vincent Valentine..." His voice trailed off as he mistakenly looked deeper into her eyes and she into his, she turned her head sharply and suddenly towards the blond man who seemed to be one inch shorter then her, cutting of the weird connection. Vincent wondered why his eyes seemed to be drawn to hers almost clumsily, but he seemed to care more about why she had adverted her eyes from his so quickly. There is a lot not to like in there, he thought staring at her, as she waited for Cloud's name.  
  
"My name is Cloud." The so- called "weak man" extended his hands to her and she took it. To her surprise he was stronger then he looked. The feeling of surprise was mutual. Sephiroth's sister or not, he hadn't expected that kind of strength. More important then Cloud's strength was the fact that he was the first one to extend his hand to her. It was a good start that put him above the others.  
  
"Cloud, project C" she whispered to no one, but the soft sound waves where picked up by sharp ears.  
  
"What?" Cloud asked with a funny dumfounded looked on his face.  
  
"Nothing" she responded all too seriously.  
  
" You know who I am," the President interrupted abruptly as he looked at his watch. "Well, now that I've met you and I'm assured you haven't gone crazy, I'm gonna go finish some paper work. I'll leave the rest up to you guys." He reminded them that this wasn't a casual meeting, there was work to be done. Reeve nodded to Nemesis and the others and left the room impatiently. It wasn't the right thing to say, but he had too much work to do.  
  
"I'll go help him," Elena added.  
  
"Me too" Tifa and Yuffie echoed. Yuffie didn't know the first thing about the paperwork Reeve dealt with; she just wanted to get out of there. Tifa left because she felt a bit uncomfortable with that woman there. Another person joined the exiting party in silence as he stroked his Gun-arm.  
  
Cid put out the last cigarette he was smoking in the pottery next to him and searched for another. To his displeasure all he found was an empty carton. "I gotta get me a pack of cigarettes. I'm all out. See you bums later" Cid commented with a flick of the wrist. He didn't give a dam who he was calling bums all he new was that he needed some nicotine quick or he'd blow. He wasn't about to tell Sephiroth's sister she was a prisoner while his lungs were breathing in pure air.  
  
" I need my guns, or which ever of my weapons are lying around here. Reno, were my clothes? This vest you gave me is from when I was 16." She frowned. "Did Rufus burn my clothes after he thought I died? I was kidding when I said that." This was the perfect start to her anxious inquiry. "Where is he? He must be the President now because President Shinra would have never let you talk with AVELANCHE. That is unless you where shouting swears in the heat of battle. Tseng's not here either. Is he protecting President Rufus? Guys?" The look on the Turks faces and the rather sentimental face that Nanaki made instinctively caused her to build walls against the emotional attacks she knew she was about to receive. Her stomach turned and her mind and heart prepared for any terrible news that where to come. Reno grabbed her hand gently and seated her on the red couch. She remained silent, a plain look on her face.  
  
"A lot has happened in 6 years," Red said. He spoke softly, slowly so as to not hurt the frail glass cup that was Nemesis's emotions. She hated that he would think so little of her, but deep inside she appreciated his compassion. " The most troublesome events happened in the last year."  
  
"O.K. So what has happened in my absence? Tell me only of last year since it is marked the 'troublesome' year. And keep it relevant to the situation" She spoke quickly and formally. They didn't know that in truth she had only been sleeping one year and so needed to know only what happened in that year, but that had no relevance. They didn't need to know that.  
  
Nemesis showed no sings of fear at what she might hear. She had voided herself of all emotions. Vincent knew what she was doing. The men started to re-tell the whole story. From Clouds first job with AVELANCHE, to the murder of someone she cared about by her own brother, to Sephiroth's last breath and meteor's effect on Midgard, up to their unlikely discovery of a woman in the wreckage of a war zone. Red and Cloud told most of it, but the Turks and Vincent (without going into it too deep) chimed in once in a while, when in seemed their words where more appropriate. When it was more personal to the respected parties.  
  
After Vincent contributed his part he had crossed his arms and lowered his head deep in thought, remembering how he had gotten to that office and the strange sensation he felt when he'd first seen her. It was odd, he couldn't help but worry about how the death of the people this woman loved would affect her psyche. It was probably because he could relate. He too had once awakened to a strange world. Although she had spent less years in her deep slumber them he, almost the same amount of tragic change had occurred. Her brother and co-workers were dead, her home crushed, and her world turned upside down. Vincent knew Nemesis wasn't going to scream and cry for hours and hours, that was what worried him. She'd end up like him. He still regarded her as "Sephiroth's sister" but he couldn't help but be concerned. No part of the story they where telling her would bring her any type of joy, only sorrow that he knew she would hide in an antic face. He hoped to at least see her mad and enraged when they told her of her prisoner status with them. 


	4. Chapter 5

The Masquerade- A ffvii fic by Amazonsoul  
  
Author's Note: This is the system for showing thoughts:  
  
q /this/ represents a thought  
  
q /"this"/ represents mental dialogue  
  
q //this// represents more then one person thinking the same thing  
  
"Understand? We'll see how much you two understand." -Nemesis  
  
She just sat there. Breathed and blinked, breathed and blinked. She gazed into nothingness. Showed no emotion. Just breathed and blinked, breathed and blinked as if in slow motion. Her arms where folded on her lap and she listen to them, those males who were telling her all these horrible things. Inside, her mind raged, her heart burst, her soul cried in agony and pain, but she showed them nothing. Nemesis couldn't understand it or maybe she just didn't want to. Her mind refused these impossibilities, these malicious lies. How could it be? No it could not be. It must not be, and yet it was. She had known it from inside the consciousness of the Mako; there had been no dreams, just realities.  
  
/Another banquet of pain for the Angel of Sorrow/.  
  
She felt like bursting into tears, like ripping someone's heart out so that they could feel her pain. She felt like screwing with their minds and yet.she felt like protecting all the people, shielding them form further harm, she felt like tearing Hojo limb from limb, but then. she felt like decapitating AVALANCHE and even the Turks. The so -called "heroes" deserved it for not protecting Aeris, and the Turks, they deserved it for going against the Planet, they deserved it for following the demon Rufus had turned into, they deserved it because while they did all these insane things, they knew better.  
  
However, another, more logical, part of her was sure AVALANCHE tried their best and that part also understood that the Turks always followed their orders, many times in hesitation or in undesirable circumstances.  
  
Nemesis felt a lot of things inside her, but at the same time, numbed from the pain, she felt nothing at all. Her emotions were an enigma wrapped in a riddle. She was more dead then alive and how she wished she were really dead. But she would not succumb to these feelings. She would not be weak, but she would be strong and bare her burden with no one's help. So her feelings were stuffed into that black corner (or had it become a room?) once more, as she just breathed and blinked, breathed and blinked, while she stared at nothing, listening to the silence that had recently overtaken the room.  
  
"Is that it?" She asked as if she had just heard an extremely boring story, but her mind didn't think it boring at all.  
  
/Not one, but two years I've been submerged in the Mako. A total of six years that I've lost, six years in which Rufus did a 180, in which the Turks turned on Aeris, and in which Reno killed hundreds of people with a push of a button. And in only 1 year of the six, my biological brother has killed not just Shinra, but Rufus, Tseng, and, Aeris, and he too is dead, that stupid god wannabe. And I've lost my identity to that bastard. Now I'm not myself, but the daughter of a mad man with an equally mad son. The sins of the father and the son have been laid upon me, how poetic. I will pay for their sins and my own, but I will not quiver in fear and be weak like they where. Hell no./  
  
"Well, yeah that's.um yeah.that's it in a nutshell I guess," Cloud said in confusion as he watched Nemesis. Did this woman not feel? She was just sitting there hearing the worst possible thing and she just.well she sat there. The Turks and Nanaki too, looked worried and confused. Reno sat next to her and looked into her face trying to find some hint of pain or even anger at what he had done, but there was none. //Why do you always hide?// Reno wondered along with Rude, who stood next to Nemesis, where Yuffie had once been. Vincent did not wonder along with them. He looked at her with sympathy, not pity, but sympathy, a very dangerous emotion considering whom it was aimed at. He knew very well what she was going through.  
  
Cloud looked back at his friend Vincent and declared his confusion with his frowning eyebrows. That's when Cloud noticed it. /Nemesis is just like Vincent/. He now remembered the words Aeris had told him in his dreams: /"She may be cold and sarcastic, but that's not real."/ Just like Vincent/, he thought. Cloud had come to know and understand Vincent, most of him anyway, he could, no he would for the sake of Aeris, do the same with this woman, even if she was Sephiroth's sister. Cloud turned around and gave Nemesis a smile.  
  
"Hey, you want something to eat? I don't know about you but I always thought Hojo never supplied a decent meal." Cloud's kindness and carefree attitude almost caught Nemesis of guard. The joke wasn't much though. She had not eaten a decent meal in years and not at all for 1, no, 2 years. How her body somehow survived was a complex topic that could only be understood by the most scientifically learned.  
  
" Yeah my mouth tastes like Mako." She replied cynically as she got up.  
  
"But Cloud, we still have other business." RedXIII said calmly in his rich deep voice. Nemesis looked back at him expectantly. True, Red did realized that this woman was perfectly sane, although cold, but she still had to know that she was to be guarded. There was also still the matter of her background and what exactly Hojo's plans for her where. There where many questions to be answered.  
  
"Hey, if Nemesis wants to eat, she'll eat! Whatever other 'business' that you have can be handled later." Reno said happily as he slid over to his friend's side. Nemesis placed one hand on her hip and sighed.  
  
"Look, I'm not starving, so we can handle this so-called 'business' of yours. What is it?" Nemesis asked, tired of being in the same room for too long.  
  
"She doesn't have to hear it now," Cloud said nervously. His voice cracked and staggered in unusually high pitches. "Let's go eat!" He didn't want to tell Nemesis that she lost her privacy; that she was going to, and she had to be, watched 24/7 by AVALANCHE. Her freedom to explore this new world as she pleased would be taken from her. But he was the leader and he had to tell her, he had to be blamed for the decision and be the bad guy. That predicament he wanted to hold of, but RedXIII wasn't going to let him.  
  
"No, Cloud she must know now." Red warned him.  
  
"Know what?" Rude asked in his deep acoustic voice, not liking the look of this.  
  
"I'll tell her, Cloud," Vincent volunteered to the surprise of everyone. Nemesis turned to face him and he was about to speak, when Cloud interrupted.  
  
"No, I'm the leader of this group, I have to say it." Cloud took a deep breath and sighed. Sometimes he wished he wasn't in charge. He looked straight into her luminous eyes that showed no emotions. She was intimidating, but he could be too. "AVELANCHE and the Turks have decided that under the circumstances it is best that you remain with us and that your are kept in watch because of the possible harm that you represent. This means that you are not to be left alone." He paused before saying the last word, "ever." Nemesis's gaze shifted from Cloud to Reno to Rude with a cool, curious smile on her lips. This was painfully hilarious.  
  
"Say what!?" Reno exclaimed in rage. He was next to Nemesis and in front of Cloud. "The Turks never agreed on anything like this. Hell! We weren't even asked and if we where the answer would be no. We're not allowing you to do this. It's insane."  
  
"No, Reno, I'm the one who's insane," Nemesis said, sarcasm oozing form every word. "I plan on modeling after my brother and my dear old dad, whom I love more then anything. Yes, I, whom am sworn to protect mother earth, will soon try to destroy it. Don't you know?" Then she whispered darkly. "I'm evil to the core." She smiled mischievously. How she hated this, they feared her so much because of the deeds of her father and brother. Nemesis expected it, but did not welcome it. Part of her wished that it didn't even have to be an issue. These people where heroes, protectors of her beloved Planet, and part of her did want to know them. However, if at any point Nemesis had seriously thought of becoming friends with all the new people she had met, that thought was obliterated from her mind.  
  
"You're not evil," Vincent said sincerely. She wished he were right.  
  
"Nah, really?" Rude commented sourly with a slight growl.  
  
Vincent ignored him and looked at her. "But Hojo has warped many people's minds, making them do. unthinkable things." Nemesis remembered what they had told her, about how Cloud couldn't control himself for some time and that at that time he, the brave hero, did some "unthinkable things". "We would not have him use you for his twisted plans," Vincent finished. "Well, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Nemesis responded with a cocky smile. "Ok, but only one or two guards at a time, I would hate to be an inconvenience." The sarcasm of her voice was a sweet melody that Reno and Rude missed dearly.  
  
"Well, the Turks didn't agree with this, but hey, me and Rude will keep ya company." Reno said with a smile.  
  
"I don't think the other guys would like that." RedXII commented. "They know you are friends and they would feel that you wouldn't do your job." Reno crossed his arms and rolled his eyes in annoyance. / A Turk always does his job./  
  
"So who IS going to be with her? Yuffie and Barret?" Rude hissed.  
  
"That would be so much fun." Nemesis said indifferently as she sighed, convinced this was to be so.  
  
"No," Cloud said to her surprise. "I would never do that. I think Vincent and I would be better for the job." Nemesis raised a suspicious eyebrow. /What does this man think? That he and his buddy can get in my pants?"/  
  
"Why you two?" She asked plainly. /And you better not lie, I can tell./  
  
"If you want to know the truth, it's because we are the strongest ones in the group. If anything happens we can handle ourselves." Cloud said in sheer honesty, something he had picked up from a certain flower girl.  
  
"You sure are confident." She commented unimpressed. /But, at least you're not a liar./  
  
"It's also because we understand more than you think. We too have suffered at the hands of Hojo." Vincent said frankly as he looked at his deadly metallic claw, moving each finger at his command. Nemesis looked at it; it was the same as it was when she first saw it. To see it moving was little more astonishing. Her eyes made their way towards his aristocratic face and to his ruby eyes. To her, they screamed in pain and agony, more so then his claw. This time she did not turn away from their screaming, rather she locked on to them. Vincent locked on to hers, a strange vision came to him, needles pinched his entire body, blood oozed. There was screaming, the smell of rotting corpses, and something evil seemed to caress his face adoringly, but nothing was worse then the pain; this incredible pain that was beyond physical or emotional, but that included both . He saw her pain, she had allowed him a glimpse and it was horrifying. A glimpse her Turk friends and Rufus, when he was alive, would have killed for. Nemesis scoffed at Vincent's reaction. His eyes had looked away .  
  
"Understand? We'll see how much you two understand." She gave him a lopsided grin and a contemptuous wink. He remained unmoved and disappointed at his weakness.  
  
"Well, if they don't, maybe I will," RedXIII said earnestly. From his tattoo and scars, it was obvious that he too had been a victim of the madman. Nemesis gave him a surprisingly kind, but skeptical grin. She had little hope that any of them would, "understand."  
  
"Wow, that was easier then I thought," Cloud said as he scratched the back of his head. Nemesis just looked at him cockily. What did he think? That she was going to magically break out a huge Katana and whoop on them? /Very funny./ No, although she did resent the hate, she understood the danger she could represent to them. /I've always been a danger girl/, she thought morosely.  
  
"So, can we get some grub, I'm starving!" Reno commented hastily as he started out the door. In his hastiness he almost rammed into Dr. Cain, Nemesis's doctor.  
  
"Hey watch it!" Reno warned. He had not met the doctor before. The doctor's weak frame and sleek black hair did not impress him much.  
  
"Sorry, I'm Dr.Cain, the Doctor of the woman you brought in. I see the pretty thing has awakened," the doctor replied as he looked into the room. He saw Nemesis glare at him unkindly. What did he mean by "pretty thing?" Last time she checked she was a person.  
  
"Oh so you're the dipstick?" Reno said as he blocked the entrance to the waiting room. "Listen, your help is not needed. She's fine, we'll be going now," he said as he flicked the doctor's chest. "C'mon, let's get going, people." Despite Reno's threats the doctor pushed himself in, unimpressed. Reno growled.  
  
"I have to take care of my patient." The doctor said snobbishly as he walked up to Nemesis who glared at him. She could sense his hidden fear of her and that made her, a very happy woman. "And what is your name?" He asked with a smile, as if he were speaking to a two-year-old. Here was Nemesis, standing 5'8, same height as he, and he talked to her with a baby voice.  
  
"Nemesis," she said with a dark smile. Her name struck him a bit. Having a name like that did have its advantages. "And like my friend said, I'm fine. Thank you for your help. I'll be leaving now." She started to leave, but the doctor grabbed her arm sternly. A gesture she did not like and neither did anyone else in the room.  
  
"I would like to do some small tests on you. Just to see if you're ok." He said in an uneven voice. Nemesis did not like his mannerism. She freed her wrist from him forcefully, making him stumble forward a bit.  
  
Reno gave a loud "ha!"  
  
"The answer is no. I hate White coats." She said flatly. Everyone, but Red agreed silently. He was the only one who managed to remain unbiased after his torture.  
  
"You heard the lady," Reno said from outside the room. "Now let's go!"  
  
"But perhaps it is best that Dr.Cain, takes a blood sample. Even that would give some light into your condition." RedXIII said calmly. He said this as a suggestion; Nemesis could do whatever she wanted. He was beginning not to like the doctor as well.  
  
"No" She replied as she looked at Dr.Cain.  
  
"Oh. But you don't have to be afraid of me, I don't bite," Dr.cain said with a smile, in that same baby talk tone. Cloud looked at Vincent; they were both thinking the same thing. //This man is very annoying and possibly dangerous//.  
  
"Me afraid of you?" Nemesis gave a small taunting chuckle. " Don't misunderstand, I don't fear you, I just don't like you." She pinched his left cheek briefly as she grinned mischievously; she was going to treat him like a baby, too. "And I've been studying both science and medicine as far as I could remember. All I need is a syringe and a microscope and I can diagnose myself."  
  
"But surely."  
  
"No." Her voice was stern and calm and yet he persisted.  
  
"It would be better if you stayed. You're a scientific wonder. You said you studied medicine and science, surely you understand what kind of milestone you represent.years in a Mako tube and yet you still live and we don't know what effects its had on you. We could learn so much."  
  
"No," was her cool answer. She started to walk towards the door where Reno stood. His face was written all over with anger; he didn't like the doctor either.  
  
"No? What do you mean 'no'? You have to stay!" The doctor screamed in anger. He reached out to grab her hand once more. Nemesis turned to the side, grabbed his harm and flipped him over. With a loud thud on the carpeted floor, the doctor landed hard on his back and head. He groaned loudly and slowly opened his eyes. All he could see where shady visions of sharp teeth, two guns and an electric rod pointing at him. His glasses had fallen off. The doctor shuddered in fear.  
  
Cloud picked up Dr.Cain's glasses off the floor. One lens was completely cracked and the other remained chipped in the corner like a spider web. The blond man squatted down next to the scared doctor and assisted him in putting his glasses on.  
  
"Good job! Now he can actually SEE how we kick his ass!" Reno said as he raised the power of his nightstick. Dr.Cain shuddered as electricity flirted with the metal in his glasses. Cloud waved his hand in front of the doctor's eyes to get his attention. The doctor turned his head to look at him.  
  
"All of us in this room aren't too fond of White coats for very good reasons. Red is an exception, but then again he isn't too fond of aggressive people like you, so he's not gonna help you out." Cloud let out a deep sigh. " Bottom line is, I have no control over these people, heck not even myself, so I suggest you don't ever try anything like that ever again." Cloud stood up, helped the groaning man to his feet and laid him down on the red couch. The weapons where still aimed at Dr.Cain. "Err.you guys can put those down now," Cloud said slowly, a bit scared that perhaps he really couldn't control them.  
  
"Wait. We're really NOT kicking his ass?" Reno asked.  
  
"If he doesn't apologize you can." Nemesis commented coolly. She gave the doctor a small grin and waited for his apology.  
  
"I'm sorry.you must understand.(cough) your special." Dr.Cain said as he held his head and groaned in pain.  
  
"Special? No, I'm not special, all beings are special." She chuckled lightly, but she really believed that. " I'm more of.unique, but then again doctor, each person has his or her own unique fingerprint." That same arrogant lopsided grin came back to her face once more. "You are forgiven, but I don't forget things and neither should you, because, Doctor." She bent over to the doctor's ear and said, "I do bite." Her voice was cool, deep, and menacing. The doctor just closed his eyes in pain. Nemesis went towards the door and looked at Reno, who was holding back his laughter with a huge smile. How he had missed her arrogant ways and her cool intimidating voice.  
  
"And I'd really like to bite on some food right about now." She said in an out of character, whinny voice with her hands on her stomach, purposely trying to make him laugh. Reno couldn't resist and laughed, loudly, and unapologetic. Nemesis just looked at the rest of the people. "May we go now?" She asked politely. Rude smiled and joined his partners at the door. Cloud and Red could not help but chuckle and be amazed. All three members of AVELANCHE came walking towards the door. Reno and Rude made their way towards the left side of the long hallway, but Nemesis stayed in front of the door looking cocky like always. "What did you think? That I didn't come complete with a sense of humor?" Cloud just smiled warmly.  
  
"The Cafeteria is down the left." With that, the group left the young Doctor to his painful sleep, something Nemesis and Vincent knew a lot about.  
  
* * * *  
  
Vincent Valentine was burning a whole through the new acquaintance (soon to be friend, he hoped.) He was behind everyone: Cloud and RedXIII led the way, behind them where Reno and Rude who walked side by side with Nemesis. Vincent walked alone in the back, starring at the girl. When she had looked at him in the waiting room, he saw something, not sure how he saw or what he saw, but he knew it wasn't good. It was pain, anger, and sorrow. Or was it an emotion that transcended all those, all- too- common feelings? It did not matter; he had looked away instinctively, like a rabbit running form a wolf. How did he hope to redeem himself and help her if he was a coward? He had his own nightmares to deal with.  
  
/But they will all end once I help her/. And who was she anyway? She was apparently, some sort of scientist, an assassin, a warrior from fairy tales, and according to the story Reno had told him she was a nature lover. /A beautiful and mysterious nature lover, who has some enchantment on me/, he shook his head rapidly to rid him of that inane thought, /but she is also Sephiroth's sister and a victim of Hojo. She is merely a way for me to makeup for failing Lucrecia./ That was probably why Vincent had that strange reaction when Nemesis spoke to him for the first time. He had gotten stiff and professional; a reaction he had experienced many times when he first came in contact with Lucrecia. It all made sense to him now; he was comparing her to poor defenseless Lucrecia.  
  
"I'm not defenseless. Not even when it comes to hand to hand combat." Nemesis said as she took a glimpse at Vincent. Was he starring at her? "But if I'm to face Hojo I will need weapons, Mr.Cloud."  
  
"Just Cloud, please," he responded without looking back. " And I understand, but the others."  
  
"The Turks are also part of 'the others'." Rude said coolly.  
  
"And we would all agree that she should have something to protect herself." Reno said.  
  
"Don't worry, Vincent and I will protect her." Cloud said. Nemesis scoffed and looked back at Vincent.  
  
"An Amazon relying on men to protect her, now that's hilarious." She looked ahead once more, " It is also an insult." She responded darkly.  
  
/She should have something to protect her, or at least something to make her feel like she doesn't need us/, Vincent thought. Cloud sighed deeply, stopped, and turned to face Nemesis.  
  
"I'm very sorry, but you must understand."  
  
"Yes I know, 'the others'. I understand, but don't think I won't get my hands on something. I hope you realize that I am accepting these terms on my own accord. Although I probably won't, I can get the hell out of here whenever I feel like it. That's something your going to have to deal with." She said frankly.  
  
Cloud just sighed again and smiled. /Just like Aeris said: "cold and sarcastic"/.  
  
"Ok, now lets get some food." Cloud said as he turned. They resumed walking and made their way into the lunchroom.  
  
The cafeteria wasn't very crowded. Only about a couple of dozen White coats and secretaries sat in the round mahogany tables that laid about in no particular set up. The professionals where all eating chaotically as if their lives depended on it, and maybe it did for some. After all, time is money.  
  
Running vertically in the middle of the large rectangular room was a salad bar and buffet tables. The cafeteria smelled like steamed rice and barbecue ribs. Cloud pointed to an empty table near the middle. "Let's go sit over there." As the group made their way towards the middle an elderly lady with large framed glasses stood up and bumped the chair into Nemesis.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I didn't see you.." The woman gasped. "Your eyes!"  
  
"Pretty aren't they? Like emeralds." Nemesis said mockingly. She tried to walk away.  
  
"But the last women who where in SOLDIER died," the graying red head said following after her. "Oh. you're that woman who Dr.Cain was talking about! What are you doing here? You should be in bed! What about the tests?"  
  
"There will be no test." Nemesis kept walking along with the group ahead of her.  
  
"Oh you don't like Dr.Cain? I can help you if you'd like."  
  
"No that's fine."  
  
"Oh! Come on! You where in Mako for years, someone needs to test you" The tall, old, lady declared in a very loud voice. A bit of anger and desperation came into her voice. "I am the best researcher here."  
  
The whole Cafeteria was looking at the two women now. Murmuring began. Nemesis could hear them say, "Oh is she the one?" People stopped eating their lunches and hurried to where Nemesis was. Suddenly the tall woman was in the mists of a sea of White coats; doctors and research scientists alike. 


	5. Chapter 6

The Masquerade: a FFVII fanfic by Marlen Gonzalez  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"You seem to take Elena's input quite nicely." - Reno  
  
Nemesis tried to get away, but every time she turned to flee, another White coat surrounded her. She was being grabbed from all different sides, pulled by every piece of her suit, and bombarded with claims of superiority by every one of the learned hunters.  
  
"I am the best scientist here. I have a Ph.d and a.."  
  
"Screw ranks and titles. I'm the most moral. With me."  
  
"No harm shall come, if you're with Dr. Ha."  
  
The yells, screams, and pleas felt like mallets to the head. Nemesis tried to be calm and politely urged them to let go of her.  
  
"Let go. Let go, please. Hey that hurts, stop! You're tearing my suit!" Her calm gave away to annoyance.  
  
Cloud, Vincent, Red XIII, Reno, and Rude saw the commotion and took immediate action. Reno turned on his nightstick and dove at the crowd with a warrior's cry. He was stopped before he could reach the disturbance. RedXIII pushed him back.  
  
"Don't hurt them, just get her to safety. They don't deserve." Before RedXIII could finish his sentence, some of the scientist that where around Nemesis hurried on to him.  
  
"What strange animal is this?"  
  
"It should prove to be interesting to study."  
  
"I was here first, so back of!"  
  
"No! The beast is mine"  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, please I am not here to be studied and neither is."  
  
"And it speaks!" "This should prove to be a very inte.ahg."  
  
Reno did not take Red's advice and electrocuted the scientists with his nightstick. One by one they fell to the floor in pain. Gleaming, obvious, joy was written on his face as Reno made bodies jerk in jaded awkward positions and fall like tons of smoldering bricks. Meanwhile, his partner was dishing out pain with his fists.  
  
"Reno, Rude STOP!" Cloud commanded.  
  
"Look he has the eyes, too!" one scientist yelled.  
  
"Look at his belt! He's from soldier!" Another one commented. Soon, Cloud too was swarmed by Scientists and Doctors.  
  
"What the." The rest of his words where muffled under the sound of a shot that rang out of Vincent Valentine's gun. A deadly silence engulfed the room and all attention was brought to the menacing figure that stood on top of one of the many mahogany tables.  
  
"Now if you all would just step back and let them go, no one will get hurt." Vincent's voice rang out in polite, raspy , unnaturally deep, tone. His ruby eyes gleamed with the fierceness of the many demons of the many hells. Their crimson visage was tainted with unnatural shadows that whirled outward from the center of his soul or rather his souls.  
  
"That ones a freak too." A young secretary said; her words mumbled by the residue of her half-chewed salad. A fourth of the crowd that suffocated Nemesis ran over to the table and tugged at Vincent's cape. With one swift powerful turn the assailants where tossed across the cafeteria. A menacing growl escaped his lips as the pupils of his eyes where lost in the blood stained clouds that overtook the windows to his souls. All eyes glared in awe at the transformation that Vincent was so desperately fighting back. The light from the emeralds gems that where Nemesis's eyes began to grow brighter. Like a wandering ship that finds its light house Vincent was drawn to her glare. There seem to be no conscious mind in either of them. They stared, without blinking, at each other's eyes. For a single second all was stagnant, silent, and still.  
  
A loud yell snapped them both out if it.  
  
"Freeze freaks!" A team of five security officers shouted in unison, but it was they who remained frozen as Nemesis ran over them.  
  
She did not stop running. Out of the cafeteria and into the maze that where the halls, she kept on running. She took rights and lefts involuntarily, guided by a lack of her own will. Her footsteps where inhumanly quick and as silent as the great hunter cats. Nemesis ran not knowing where until "it" caught her eye and begged her to stop.  
  
****  
  
In a room much like all the other rooms of the strange maze, Nemesis saw something surreal and horrific. It was the large capsule in which she had been imprisoned for so long. The wires where tangled with each other, no life spurred in its cores. The tank itself was also dead; devoid of the life that had once been trapped inside. Not even the fluid that had kept the being afloat and nourished remained. The womb that had kept Project N alive, but did not let her live, was dead now. Its iridescent glow and any other traces of it once preserving life, were gone. Now, it was only gray dead matter and a perfectly intact souvenir; a reminder of the cruelty of mankind. Nemesis stared blankly at it and then screamed.  
  
* * * *  
  
When he found her, she was sitting on the floor of the hallway, just staring into the open room. Staring at the capsule. She was caught up in some reverie when the quick steps that ran after her took a slow steady pace. A sigh escaped her mouth and she looked up at the figure that loomed over her. Words transpired and he held out his metallic claw. Her bloodied hands clasped it and used it for leverage. She stood in front of him, still holding the metal instrument. Her body moved so that their auras could brush each other. Then she whispered five jagged words. The others came and silently pointed the way out of the building. Vincent took the time to glance into the room and see the destruction.  
  
* * * *  
  
Now she was being led through the headquarters of P.E.A.CE . There where only three levels to the meager office building; meager compared to the once proud Shinra headquarters. But the cubic, unimpressive architecture to this small office held its own dignity. There was no clutter, no screams from the employees who realized their fate all too late, and there was a feeling in the air that gave support to the unadorned walls. There was purpose here; unselfishness, love for the work, and purity. Nemesis looked at the purely white walls and glossy tiled floor. So glossy, in fact, that she could see a blurred reflection of herself as she looked down at her feet. In this place, this rather simplistic, purpose filled, genuine home for heroes, one's own reason for life seemed so very shady and undefined; lacking in any life what so ever.  
  
The group entered an office and found Reeve scrambling over papers, furrowing and lifting up eyebrows, and signing authorizations. Sitting in chairs to both sides of him where Elena and Tifa. Both where highlighting the important context in their documents so Reeve would not have to go through the fill of them. Yuffie was in the back playing with the digital map that adorned the back wall of Reeve's office. She touched the screen so that it would zoom in to different locations.  
  
"Guys, where's Barret?" Asked Cloud  
  
The trio looked up, only now noticing the large group of people that would detain them from their heavy work. "Um. I think he said he was callin' Marlene," answered Tifa.  
  
"Well that's always good."  
  
"He's telling her that he'll be back in Corel.." she added more softly then before.  
  
"Well that's a good idea," Cloud added nonchalantly." Say Reeve, you wouldn't happen to have any medical aid kits around here, would ya?"  
  
"Yeah sure."  
  
"Cloud didn't you hear me? Barret is leaving!" Tifa interrupted.  
  
"Whoa. I heard you Tifa. It's a good idea. You should get back to a normal life too." He turned around to face the group. "No one who doesn't have a reason to continue in this should." He sighed. " Now where are those things again?"  
  
"Are you hurt?" Tifa asked worriedly as she stood up. / I know I am/  
  
"Um no Tifa. Thank you for your concern", he snapped his head to look at Reeve, "Where are they again?"  
  
" Just go to the top floor. First door to your left. It's a closet full of all your first aid needs. But if you needed it, why didn't you just ask someone at the center?" Reeve inquired.  
  
" The Mideel Science Center won't be allowing us back in anytime soon." Reno replied with a devilish grin. "C'mon Neme, let's go get you..Hey where did she go?" His face morphed into dumfounded look. Everyone else inhaled in alarm.  
  
"Relax guys. Didn't you see her leave to get her hands fixed?" The alarm did not cease after Cloud's words. "AND," he continued, "Vincent followed her."  
  
"Yeah we have to talk about that.." Reno said softly as he looked at Elena.  
  
"It's not open for discussion," Reeve corrected him.  
  
* * *  
  
" Must you always follow me?" Nemesis asked as she slowly went upstairs with Vincent right next to her.  
  
"Actually yes." Vincent answered politely.  
  
"Oh, a funny man." Her voice was low and devoid of any change in pitch. "Just don't make a noise. Let me pretend I'm alone." Silence befell the both of them as they made their way to the top floor and into the first door on the left. Nemesis looked down at her blood stained hands. /At least it's my own blood. OK I'll need something to clean the wound maybe a needle for the big cut..Wait../  
  
"Mr. Valentine I think all I will be needing is some water and soap."  
  
" I figured as much. Wash room is just around the corner." He opened the door and stepped aside so she could go through. "And please do call me Vincent."  
  
"Vincent?." She whispered to no one in particular. "Ah. thank you Vincent."  
  
She pumped the liquid soap dispenser twice. Vincent turned on the faucet for her. Nemesis rubbed her hands together under the water. The red stains dissolved as the drain drank up the cranberry liquid. Finally, her hands where clean and the last residue of the evidence of her rage disappeared. Not a single gash or even an irritated spot existed to incriminate her. She stared at her hands. They where like new, or like some other hands that had no connection with her. Her new hands where dried with paper towels and they remained with her down the walk back to the office.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Reeve, we might be working for you, but you do not speak for us!" Reno openly rebelled against Reeve's comments. It seemed that the President of P.E.A.C.E had spoken for the Turks on what should be done with Nemesis.  
  
"You seem to think that the Turks really have some input on what to do with her or anything for that matter," Reeve retorted. "You are professionals paid to help me. Your input, whether emotional or logical, is not needed."  
  
"You seem to take Elena's input quite nicely." Reno growled back.  
  
"And just what is that suppose to mean, Reno?" Elena screamed.  
  
"What do you think..."  
  
In the staircase Vincent and Nemesis could clearly hear the argument.  
  
"Turks." Nemesis scoffed in disappointment.  
  
"Yes. It seems that with each passing generation, it just got worse." Vincent said, surprisingly sparking conversation.  
  
"What is that? Your version of 'you rotten kids today!'."  
  
"Perhaps. Was that scoff yours?"  
  
"Oh! I didn't realize you had a sense of humor." She painted on her lopsided grin.  
  
"Neither did I." He stopped walking down the stairs and looked up at her. "There are some things that I would like to ask you.." He said, turning quite serious. "And there are things that I would like to ask you. But both of us know that it will take more then small talk and a few jokes to have either of us question or answer." She said truthfully, glaring down at him. /Did he just grin at that?/  
  
"Understood"  
  
And they both resumed walking. When they entered the room the argument was so heated that, even without their swiftness, they went unnoticed. Nemesis made her way to the digital map. Yuffie, no longer was amused it, joined in the argument at full force. So much force in fact that Cloud had to hold her back.  
  
"How do you work this?" Nemesis asked Vincent who stood near her.  
  
" Your guess is as good as mine, but I believe the child just touched it and it zoomed in to different areas." Vincent answered. Nemesis touched Midgar on the map. A model of the destroyed city popped up as well as information on population, future plans, dangers; including creatures and "Havoc Zones."  
  
"Now, how do I zoom out?" She asked politely. Vincent shook his head.  
  
"Reeve, you're going to disintegrate Midgar?" Nemesis asked, demanding attention above all other voices. Everyone stopped in their tracks.  
  
"What the.How did you get in here?" Was all Reeve said. He let go of Elena who had been reaching for Reno and turned to Nemesis bewildered.  
  
"We used the door." She responded dryly. "And now that I have answered your pointless question you will answer mine. In this map," she waved her hand in front of the screen, "it says that you plan on taking down everything in Midgar. Is this true?" she asked. Reeve regained his composure.  
  
"Yes, then we plan on rebuilding..." He could not finish his sentence or rather his on coming speech.  
  
"Then you will take me there before you dismantle it." Nemesis said plainly. 


	6. chapter 7

The Masquerade, a Final Fantasy VII Fic  
  
"You two keep going off and looking like THIS and I might think we have a Romeo and Juliet aboard." -CLOUD  
  
Reeve looked at the amazon. He took at deep breath and with some hesitation murmured, " We cannot go back there. The city is at a level 10 toxic pollution ratio." He cleared his throat and smacked his lips, looking away from Nemesis, who raised an inquiring eyebrow. She smiled devilishly as soon as she realized what Reeve was doing.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Reeve you where always so cemented in your devotion towards honesty. At least you seemed as much from my far away view." She smiled in amusement but spoke severely. "Now take me to Midgar before you dismantle it."  
  
"As I've said...."  
  
"Oh shut the hell up, will you? Stop playing games, you're a horrible liar Reeve. Kudos to you on that, but your little game is not amusing." Elena walked with feigned courage towards Nemesis and handed her a large binder. The four inch organizer overflowed with paper. It was like an overfed beast.  
  
"He is not lying. All the information is there: the death toll, the residual toxins, recorded air borne diseases..." Her breaths where deep and wavering as she spoke. She moved closer to Reeve. "It's all there." Nemesis looked at them both and nonchalantly dropped the obese creature in front of them.  
  
"I know very well that he isn't lying about that." She spoke calmly, but an obvious struggle for patience was demonstrated in her glowing eyes. "What he is lying about is our inability to go back there. I have seen all the equipment and we all know that mako treatments make people highly resistant to toxins. And don't you even try to play the 'I worry about your health' game." /Not like you care if I die/ She forcefully expelled a breath from her mouth. "Now take me there." Tifa rolled her eyes. She was thinking of a series of smart comments she could say back. /Who does she think she is? We're not her servants/ Her thoughts where interrupted by one blithe word.  
  
"Sure" A collective "What?" was heard around the room. Cloud shrugged and repeated himself. "Sure, why not? I have to go back there anyway. My children are waiting for me there ...and uh...never mind.". Nemesis wore her lopsided grin again and nodded courtly. Upon realizing that his incongruous answer left many dumbfounded and a few irritated, Cloud began explaining himself. "Well, um ya'll don't have to go...me and Vincent, we'll take care of it and um it'll be quick, I mean she just wants to see it for one last time. It's not so much to ask...I think."  
  
"We can go too," volunteered Reno. A swift "No!" came from Elena. Argument sprung up and incoherent phrases where being shouted.  
  
"Are you sure you're all friends? And since when does Mr. Cloud have children" Nemesis asked Vincent. He only gave a disappointed sigh.  
  
"Please just call me Cloud." The leader of this eclectic group exhaled fiercely. "Would you all stop it?!" The room became quiet and "hmphs" where heard all around.  
  
"Fine Cloud, I'll take you guys. Any excuse for flying is a damn good excuse." Cid lit a cigarette and yielded to Cloud's wishes. He was a pilot, an airman, and he followed orders. Wether this Nemesis woman was to be trusted, he did not know, but he trusted his leader. Reeve pointed to the no smoking sign hanging from the ceiling. Cid also desperately needed a smoke. "Oy, Let's move out people. I'll take these youngsters to Midgar." He walked away, pumping poison into his lungs and loving it.  
  
"You guys can stay here and try to locate Hojo. Go through the files we found and um.." Cloud gave a glance at Nemesis. " and...forgive me for saying this...but find out exactly what Nemesis is." Nemesis shrugged. She wanted to know what she was too. "Yuffie, Reno, and Rude, you should accompany us, as back up." Reno lit up.  
  
"Cool," and he started to light a Cig.  
  
"No smoking" Reeve said tensely.  
  
"We're going now anyway. C'mon Neme, let's mosey." There was a brief pause and then he crushed his face in his hands. "Oh geeze that idiot has got me saying that..."He walked out of the room as Rude, Nemesis, and Vincent followed. Red came in the room simultaneously.  
  
"Is it over?" The wise creature walked slowly and cautiously inside. He had left the argument from it's conception, as he was always inclined to do. Cloud laughed and rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yeah Nanaki." He moved closer to him and the doorway. " We're leaving now to Midgar. Elena, Reeve, Tifa, and possibly Barret are staying here with you and helping you dig through what we found. Keep in touch with the outside world. Any reports of Dr.Ugly and Mr. Sly would help us."  
  
"We will do our best." Red made his way deeper into the room as Cloud left. The intelligent beast looked up at all the faces left; he could feel the tension threaten to crush his insides.  
  
* * * *  
  
"It's the Highwind...." Nemesis said with an uncharacteristic wide- eyed look. Cid beamed with pride. "But it's not the original," she continued. "The material is far less rustically charming, and lady luck has far more humble 'attributes' then from what photos I remember." She stared at the slightly tamed Auburn haired bombshell on the side of the new Highwind model. "See?" Cid exclaimed. "I told you those a$$holes didn't get her proportions right!" He looked at Nemesis who glared critically at the sleek ship. "Don't you worry non kid. I'm gonna scrub that picture myself and give some justice to my lady." Nemesis nodded to him as they entered the moving fortress. Amidst her excitement to finally be in the Highwind, or at least something like it, she remembered that this was not her dream. /This is what you wanted Aeris/ She whipped her head back staring straight at Vincent, who had been sensing her discomfort and sadness. No one else noticed it, but she was annoyed at herself for allowing him to get through.  
  
/ "Stop doing that"/ rang loudly inside Vincent's head. A flicker of light illuminated Nemesis and Vincent's eyes for a fraction of a second He grimaced a little at the shock. Cloud raised an eyebrow. He knew very well that there was something strange about Vincent and Nemesis's connection. Anyone who had witnessed their first meeting or if not, the peculiar moment at the MSC cafeteria, would agree that their connection was an enigma.. /What was that all about?/ Vincent thought similarly about the amazon's current transaction with him. She had used some psychic powers to contact his mind twice now and this time it gave him a bit of a headache./ At least I don't feel what I felt that first time.../ He remembered the needles and the pain beyond pain. It was foreign but he identified with any sort of pain better then most. He had to help her, had to find out more about this woman and perhaps about himself. No one mentioned what happened in the cafeteria. He pretended he did not remember, did she pretend as well? Then he remembered those words, the blood on her hands. Why did those words hurt him? Why was he drawn to her?  
  
"Don't think too much...Mist...Vincent..." She whispered next to him as Cid gloated to her about the aircraft.  
  
"An' this here is the cockpit, and down that way is the meeting room, and..." He was enjoying this very much.  
  
"And where would the lunch room be?" She asked politely. Wasn't this the stern woman that had silenced Cid's hostile friends? Now she seemed like a polite girl. By no means devoid of her powerful aura, but certainly a friendlier lady./Maybe it's cuz she likes my ship that I like her ?/ Cid thought.  
  
"Oh yeah, well we don't have one of those exactly. We have a small kitchen...Shera is here so, you go on ahead and eat with her."  
  
"We'll show you the way!" Exclaimed Reno smiling like a clown and smacking her back loudly. /This is really you, you're alive.../She gave him an amused villainous look as he kept on grinning.  
  
"Well, I'm not hungry..." Yuffy turned her nose upwards but her stomach growled and gave her away. "Hehe" she laughed nervously.  
  
"If you find it distasteful to eat with me, I hold no grudge." Nemesis looked at Cloud. "I'm so hungry I could even eat Squall at this moment..." He laughed boyishly. It was hard to believe that he could posses the severity necessary to live in this new world. * * * *  
  
The Highwind stirred and raced to its destination. Atop the deck stood Nemesis who had slyly escaped from the dinner festivities. No doubt her minute of solace would soon be interrupted by one or two of her captors. It sure didn't feel like they where guards though. Even Yuffie was beginning to like her by the end of dinner and Shera politely accepted her. Of course she had no idea that it was Sephiroth's sister whom she had dinned with. Nemesis had to admit, she didn't mind their company at all. /you like them Aeris, why shouldn't I?/She closed her eyes and took in the cool night air. Then she leaned on the balcony and let the wind dance madly with her hair. A hand of flesh and a hand of metal hovered near the small of her back. Electricity seemed to hover between their two bodies. She stood up straight. As she gazed into the night sky she said "thank you." Vincent gazed with her and remained silent.  
  
"You actually look like you genuinely seem concerned about my well being..." Nemesis said unwavering. "Vincent... thank you for remaining quiet all this time. I almost felt as if I had a moment of privacy..." They looked briefly at each other through the corners of their eyes and then turned their attention back to the stars.  
  
"There you two are." Cloud walked in with a lazy pace, rubbing his stomach with a glutton's pleasure. He watched them as they absorbed some comfort from the placid night. A smirk came on his face. "You two keep going off and looking like THIS and I might think we have a Romeo and Juliet aboard."  
  
Nemesis scoffed and Vincent gave his friend a playful evil glare. /Ah Cloud, only you would dare make such a comment, but how little you know about our...complicated connection. How little I know/  
  
Cloud joined in gazing at the sky. "She never gets any less beautiful or any less majestic." "So there is a poetic tongue in you after all." Vincent's tone was calm and serene. Other's would have taken it as another of Vincent's sly comments, but Cloud knew better. This was a joke. "I've been hanging around you too long my brooding friend." He turned towards Nemesis and wore a slightly more serious face. "I need to ask you something..."  
  
"I knew you would, Cloud. Go on and ask." She grabbed a hold of her ridiculously long hair, but the bangs at her side still flirted with the wind. "Go on now, ask, I'll only bite if you want me to." She winked at him and then stared back at the night. Cloud gave a small chuckle. Vincent remained as stoic as ever, or perhaps too stoic for being in Cloud's presence. He felt a small tap at his heart. Was he close to being jealous?  
  
"How exactly did an amazon become a henchman...er...woman for a mako devouring corporation?"His question was honest and to the point.  
  
"You've got brass Cloud. You question my story."She looked at him, ready to answer. She knew he was the one she saw within the consciousness of the life stream. The tormented little soul so adored by Aeris. And it was Aeris who was making Cloud trust her and even like her. It was she who was helping them become friendlier by the second. She was the one calming his fears of another Sephiroth.  
  
"When you ask it that way...it sounds so ridiculous that I would go from an earth worshiping Amazon to a Turk." She played with the waves of her hair. A Turk walked in to their conversation.  
  
"But love can make you do ridiculous things..." Reno sat against the railing, finishing of another beer. Disbelief was written in Cloud, Vincent's, and now Yuffie's face as she walked in on Reno's comment.  
  
"Is that how you want to label my story Reno? As a simple love story?" Her tone was flat and she wondered what her former partner had been thinking in divulging such a thing.  
  
"It's the truth, you did it for him. Rufus brought you and kept you with us. HE was the be-all and end-all to EVERYTHING." A level of spite burst from his lips as he laughed drunkenly. The others now became bewildered spectators. / Love? Rufus?What?/ Yuffie thought in confusion. "Hmm, a drunken man could tell you more, more honestly then perhaps I could. Why don't you tell them Reno. Tell them my so call 'love story' as you have called it." Vincent gave Nemesis a look, as if to say "are you sure?" She urged her friend on. /Maybe it's better this way/ "I will then. I'll tell you how a caring girl gains her Turk mask and loses so much of what made her infinitely awe inspiring. And all because of HIM!" 


	7. Chapter 8

The Masquerade  
  
Chapter 8  
  
The red haired Turk took another gulp of his 16 ounce beer bottle. With a loud smack of  
  
his lips he declared that he was ready to tell the "love story." It was the story of Nemesis and  
  
how she evolved from an amazon to the servant of a mako sucking nation. The night was cool  
  
and calm with a thousand stars overhead as an audience and an active wind to carry Reno's  
  
message across the universe.   
  
Nemesis held on to the length of her hair, preventing it from being pulled along with his  
  
message. She stood silently with an unreadable expression, which was more an unsettling lack of  
  
expression. All ears waited; some eagerly, Yuffie, some uncomfortably, Cloud, and some just as  
  
silent as Nemesis with the same lack of expression that insinuates some emotion underneath,  
  
Vincent.   
  
"When I was in my third year of being a Turk, miserable as hell, just picking up my  
  
drinking habit as anger management therapy, this...this beautiful creature walked into that little  
  
fancy apartment loft that Rufus commandeered for us." Reno stared wide-eyed into nothing,  
  
images flashing before his eyes, as if speaking of his memories had brought them back for him  
  
to live again. In his memorial trance he began to talk eerily poetic and honest.   
  
"Back then, her hair was shorter, just above the middle of her back. It had these thin  
  
braids randomly placed in her hair with.... they had these... tiny red bindings at the end. She had  
  
such wild hair. I remember how the red looked like blood spots in that unnatural snow colored  
  
hair...or were they rubies at first? She walked in with Rufus just as Tseng and Rude had given in  
  
to my pressure and began to drink. Ha....I think it was my birthday...Yeah that's why even Tseng  
  
gave in, it was my big ol' 21 and in walks this reluctant angel... with the softest green eyes you  
  
had ever seen and suspicion creeping on her face. Heh for a moment there I thought Rufus was  
  
going to give me the darling girl as a present. Sick, I know, but it wasn't too uncommon and,  
  
anyway, every broad back then was just walking pussy to me. So me and the boys get up from  
  
those cushy black leather sofas near the built in bar. It wasn't like we were tryin' to be polite or  
  
nothing...well maybe Tseng...hehe...but anyway we just got up for no reason, just a reaction to  
  
this strange phenomenon that had just entered our house...our lives...and all our not-yet vice  
  
president leader said was 'I thought you guys wouldn't be in.' Yeah...right. Like this wasn't  
  
where we lived, like we would actually go out and pay to drink away the days assignment when  
  
we had our own bar, hmph, like the celebration of having survived 21 years would be anywhere  
  
else but the ONLY place I was not likely to get shot at. By this point the sweet little angel turns  
  
towards the door in her tattered black dress, shoes in one hand...I think the heels were broken,  
  
but then Rufus hurries in front of her, whispers only god fucking knows what and she doesn't  
  
make an escape again...ever. She's stuck with our lot for two years. And that's how it always  
  
was from the beginning....he whispered something...some goddam magic word and she would be  
  
his...she would just obey his command." Reno sighed deeply, growing increasingly upset in his  
  
re-memory. He raked all five free fingers through his hair, groaning softly and tired.   
  
"We all thought Rufus had finally become a 'man' and got em'self his first whore. Or  
  
that she was his knew fuck buddy, which was worse cuz they slept with him and didn't get any  
  
loot for it. I guess it was that Mr. Shinra shit that turned them on...(sigh) So he points her to his  
  
room and we're all still standing there, following her with our eyes wonderin' what the fuck is  
  
going on and the little shit head tells us to treat her nice, that he just saved her from Don  
  
Cornero....that was his story for her, that he was a freaking rape victim hero." Reno scoffed  
  
bitterly and set his precious bottle aside. All eyes now stared intensely in to him, hoping that by  
  
some magic they would see what he saw in his mind's eye. He still looked beyond everyone "He  
  
told us so many lies about you...even your name. He said your name was Mercy. No, but that  
  
wasn't really a lie. When you walked in you WERE Mercy and then he...we...turned you into  
  
Nemesis little by little. In the beginning Neme' was so wide eyed, so eager to learn anything, so  
  
willing to kick us out of our fowl moods. At first she didn't do any assignments, we would come  
  
home bloody and beaten, intoxicated with morphine and begging for alcohol to ease the pain  
  
more, as our bodies screamed and bled in misery...we'd lay on those couches or on our beds  
  
praying to be unconscious but unable to drown out the pain... the pains...it was more then  
  
physical...then the angel would appear. She came so quietly and with a smile. She would smooth  
  
my hair back, away from my face, kiss my forehead and place this warm, wet towel, that smelled  
  
like herbs on my eyes. And she would put some ointment she made on the wounds and bruises  
  
but...but best of all she would place her hands just centimeters above the skin and move her  
  
hands in circles, breathing softly, eyes closed...she was an angel...and the near contact was  
  
enough to make a man feel that he had tasted a forbidden heaven. She did all this and I...with my  
  
record for lust and disregard for...(chuckle)well everything...wouldn't touch her. Because she  
  
made me and us better. We were blessed by her and what did we do? We made her hide just like  
  
the rest of us. Pure stoic Turk mask. The best design ever made."  
  
The red head looks up at the sky, wondering why they have dealt them such an awful  
  
fate. Blaming the glittering eyes for their part in what changed so many into less-then-human  
  
beings. He closes his eyes, ever more engulfed in his re-memory. He moves his right arm to his  
  
heart as if to ease the pain. " I remember the exact moment were she stopped being Mercy. It  
  
was the day she met big ol' poppa Shinra. Gross fucking bastard had an affect on everyone.  
  
Controlled the whole fucking world with money and made it look so good. Greed wasn't so bad  
  
when it was promised to your family...to your little brother...or your mother." His face becomes  
  
contorted and nothing escapes from his mouth, not even a breath. When Yuffie begins to move  
  
towards him, he continues his story, as if there were no pause. "Rufus introduces her as Nemesis,  
  
a new member of the Turks, an official member, not just in the way that we saw her as part of  
  
our little family, but official, like a real gun carrying enforcer and shit. She didn't smile at the  
  
old man. He was all smiles though. It was one of them sweet ass parties with all the fancy ladies  
  
and all us gent's in tuxes. I think he was one saki shot too gone to notice that she was going to be  
  
the first female Turk ever. That skirt-chasing bastard wouldn't have allowed it if he was sober.  
  
And Rufus, the smart-ass, knew that. So the big man sanctions Rufus' declaration and wham!  
  
she's one of us, not just another devil in the gutter but part of the worst kinds. Tseng  
  
disapproves, Rude says nothing, and hey I was just thinkin' it was a good excuse to celebrate  
  
harder. So all night I try and get her to losen up, smile a bit, drink something, except there's like  
  
fifty other guys tryin' to do the same an' she doesn't smile or nothin' she just kind of moves  
  
around until she can cling on to Rufus. She doesn't smile the whole night, not one laugh, that is  
  
until she's on the dance floor with the future VP himself. They're doing some fancy tango shit,  
  
and it's like they're having sex on the floor, like they're making it even more obvious...no like  
  
he's making it even more obvious that she is his. That he captured the little bird and she only  
  
sings for him. And after that there were less smiles privately, no more of her healing tricks, no  
  
sweet angel. She carried two nice silver guns and a sniper rifle that would make Vincent blush.  
  
She never missed all those faces. I don't just mean she was never sentimental about the people  
  
she killed, but literally she never missed, perfect shot each time. Her talents for healing were  
  
gone but man she could destroy like no one else. It made our jobs easier. Less bumps and  
  
bruises. But it was odd...like she was sacrificing herself...maybe her soul... so that we didn't have  
  
to bear the jobs on our consciences. Rufus had been saying for a while that he wanted to change  
  
our job. We weren't sappose' to be like this, but his old man changed the whole center mission. I  
  
know Rufus was trying to do something before, that he was trying to change his father's ways.  
  
But all I saw was him using someone who loved him in order to save his own conscience or his  
  
own political record or some shit. I don't know what he was doing. Nothing changed except who  
  
did the dirtier stuff. We are murderers, I know that now, but of all the murders we've ever  
  
committed the one I regret most is killing her spirit." 


End file.
